Determination of Morphological Properties of Swellable Solids by Size Exclusion Chromatography

Abstract

Many technically interesting porous solids, e.g. ion exchangers or adsorbents for catalysis, are swellable polymers, i.e. the pore structure depends on the solvent medium. A method based on exclusion chromatography, permits determination of the pore size and pore size distribution in the swollen state.—Size exclusion chromatography, also referred to as gel permeation, gel filtration, or molecular sieve chromatography, is a widely employed method for the separation of dissolved substances—mostly polymer mixtures—according to their molecular size. Porous solids are used as stationary phase. Conversely, pore sizes and other structural data can be determined by exclusion chromatography. This application requires a series of standards (polymer samples) of known molecular weight. As a simple and rapid method, it has already proven valuable for such determinations in the case of rigid solids; in the case of swellable solids, this constitutes the sole method by which the pore structure can be characterized: classical methods require dry samples.