This application note describes a method for investigating the molecular weight distributions of diene rubber copolymers using an Agilent GPC system.
This document details the analysis of styrene/butadiene rubber copolymers using gel permeation chromatography (GPC) with viscometry. It explains that while light scattering is unsuitable for these copolymers due to non-uniform chemistry, the Universal Calibration technique using a viscometer provides accurate molecular weight distributions independent of column standards.
The analysis was performed on an Agilent PL-GPC 50 Plus integrated system equipped with a differential refractive index detector, an Agilent PL-BV AQ0RT viscometer, and PLgel 5 pm MIXED-C columns. The results demonstrate the system's ability to resolve molecular weight distributions and determine material structure for elastomeric materials.
| Flow Rate | 1 mL/min |
|---|---|
| Temperature | 40°C |
| Column Dimensions | 300 x 7.5 mm |
| Operating Temperature Range | ambient to 50 °C |
Light scattering cannot be used because the samples are copolymers with non-uniform chemistry, which leads to errors in calculations.
It gives molecular weight that is independent of the standards used in the column calibration.