Determination of Polymer Molecular Weight by GPC in the Low Molecular Weight Region

Abstract

In order to determine the molecular weight of a polymer by GPC in the low MW region, a secondary calibration method can be established when polymer standards of the analysed polymer are not available (1). The efficiency of this method has been checked for the system poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) using polystyrene (PS) standards. When the solvent is poor for one of the polymers, limitations arise due to the secondary separation effects. Furthermore, a GPC method is proposed for the determination of the Dondos-Benoīt constants (A₁ A₂) which must be known for the above-mentioned calibration. This method uses either two or at least one polydisperse polymer sample.