Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC)

Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC)

Molecular Weight, Distribution, and Polydispersity

Scope: Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC), also called Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC), is a technique that separates molecules by size or hydrodynamic volume and is typically utilized for polymer characterization. GPC is used to determine the average molecular weight (Mn), the weight-average molecular weight (Mw), the size-average molecular weight (Mz), and the polydispersity index (PDI) of polymers. Polymer characterization is important since the ratio of a certain additive can have a significant affect on the manufacturing cost as well as the physical properties of a polymer.

Equipment: FAI operates two HP 1090 Liquid Chromatographs. The units feature an autosampler, a solvent degassing system, a three solvent delivery system, and a diode array detector (DAD). The machines may be coupled with a Waters 2410 Refractive Index Detector (RID), or a Wyatt Technologies DAWN-F DSP Spectrophotometer for multi-angle light scattering (MALS).

Input: Polymer samples are dissolved with an appropriate eluent in 1.5 mL vials.

Output: FAI provides chromatograms and Mw, Mz, Mn, and PDI results.

Related Services:

High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Ion Chromatography