This document discusses the analysis of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) on Agilent PLgel 10 µm MIXED-B and GPC/SEC. PVDF is an important material with a wide range of uses from non-stick coatings to inert packaging materials. However, PVDF can be difficult to analyze by gel permeation chromatography due to its low solubility in common solvents. This challenge can be overcome by using dimethyl sulfoxide as a solvent, Agilent PLgel MIXED-B columns, and operating the GPC system at elevated temperature with appropriate high temperature sample preparation. In this study, three samples of PVDF were analyzed in dimethyl sulfoxide at 95 °C using the Agilent PL-GPC 220 instrument with two Agilent PLgel 10 µm MIXED-B, 300 × 7.5 mm columns. By operating the GPC system at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and heating the samples for 4 hours to dissolve them and reduce the solvent viscosity, satisfactory chromatographic separation was achieved.
This document details a method for analyzing polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) using gel permeation chromatography (GPC). It addresses the difficulty of analyzing fluoropolymers due to their low solubility in common solvents. The recommended approach involves using dimethyl sulfoxide as a solvent, Agilent PLgel MIXED-B columns, and operating the system at 95 °C.
| Columns | 2 x Agilent PLgel 10 MIXED-B, 300 x 7.5mm |
|---|---|
| Eluent | Dimethyl sulfoxide |
| Flow rate | 1.0 mL/min |
| Injection volume | 100 pL |
| Temperature | 95 °C |
| System | PL-GPC 220 |
Dimethyl sulfoxide is recommended to overcome the low solubility of fluoropolymers in common solvents.
The system must be operated at 95 °C to dissolve samples and reduce solvent viscosity.