A HIGH TEMPERATURE THERMAL FIELD-FLOW FRACTIONATION SYSTEM

HIGH TEMPERATURE, ULTRA-HIGH MW POLYMERIC MATERIALS ARE BEING INCREASINGLY USED IN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS. SUCH INDUSTRIES AS THE AUTOMOBILE, ELECTRONICS, BIOTECHNOLOGY, AND LIFE-SCIENCES ARE EXPLOITING THESE ADVANCED MATERIALS DUE TO THEIR HIGH-MECHANICAL STRENGTH AND TEMPERATURE-RESISTANT PROPERTIES. HOWEVER, THE CURRENT TECHNOLOGY FOR MW CHARACTERIZATION OF THIS CLASS OF COMPOUNDS IS UNRELIABLE. GEL PERMEATION CHROMATOGRAPHY, GPC, A WELL ESTABLISHED TECHNIQUE FOR AMBIENT TEMPERATURE POLYMER SEPARATIONS, HAS BEEN APPLIED TO THIS ANALYTICAL NICHE. HOWEVER, THIS TECHNIQUE SUFFERS FROM LIMITED ANALYTICAL RANGE, POOR THERMAL/CHEMICAL STABILITY OF THE GPC SEPARATION COLUMN, SURFACE ADSORPTION, AND SHEAR DEGRADATION EFFECTS. TO FILL THIS ANALYTICAL NEED, RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A HIGH TEMPERATURE THERMAL FIELD-FLOW FRACTIONATION SYSTEM BASED ON THERMAL FIELD-FLOW FRACTIONATION, (THFFF) TECHNOLOGY. HIGH TEMPERATURE ADAPTATION OF THFFF IS EXPECTED TO AVOID THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE GPC TECHNIQUE DUE TO DIFFERENCES IN SEPARATION PRINCIPLE AND THE SEPARATION CHANNEL. THE GENTLE AND FLEXIBLE EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS OF THERMAL FFF ALLOW ITS APPLICATION TO COMPLICATED AND ESPECIALLY HIGH MW SAMPLES. THE THFFF SEPARATION CHANNEL IS RUGGED AND CAN WITHSTAND EXTREME TEMPERATURE AND SOLVENT CONDITIONS. COMMERCIALLY SUITABLE ANALYTICAL METHODS AND INSTRUMENTATION ARE BEING DEVELOPED. SAMPLE PREPARATION AND SENSITIVE DETECTION TECHNIQUES ARE BEING INVESTIGATED. THE FINAL PRODUCT SHOULD BE ATTRACTIVE TO THE INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY DUE TO THE LONGEVITY OF THE INSTRUMENT AND THE QUALITY OF THE MW INFORMATION PROVIDED.