RESEARCH ON A NEW PROCESS TO FRACTIONATE POLYMERS

INCREASINGLY-STRINGENT PERFORMANCE DEMANDS BEING PLACED ON POLYMERS HAS CREATED THE NEED FOR AND IMPROVED PROCESS FOR THEIR FRACTIONATION, AND SUPERCRITICAL FUID FRACTIONATION PRESENTS THE POTENTIAL FOR CARRYING OUT SEPARATIONS OF POLYMERS EXHIBITING VERY LOW VAPOR PRESSURE. SUPRECRITICAL FLUIDS CAN BE EFFECTIVE BECAUSE THEY DO NOT REQUIRE ANY VAPOR PRESSURE DIFFERENCES AND ADDITIONALLY THEIR SOLVENT POWER CAN FREQUENTLY BE ADJUSTED TO BE SELECTIVE FOR A COMPONENT OR A NARROW RANGE OF MOLECULAR WEIGHTS; ONE TEST TO DEMONSTRATE THIS PHENOMENON WAS CARRIED OUT ON A POLYMER OF CHLOROTRIFLOUROETHYLENE, AND THE RESULTS WHICH WERE REPORTED SHOWED THAT A MIXTURE OF FOUR TELOMERS COULD BE SEPARATED INTO FRACTIONS CONTAINING A PREDOMINATE MER OF 90% CONCENTRATION. THE RESEARCH HAS THEOBJECTIVES OF DEMONSTRATING THE FEASIBILITY OF FRACTIONATINGA WIDE RANGE OF POLYMERS, PREPARING PROCESS FLOW CHART, AND CARRYING OUT A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE PROCESS BASED UPON THE LABORATORY DATA; THE EVALUATION WILL AID IN DETERMINING THE POTENTIAL VIABILITY OF THE PROCESS AND WILL AID IN DETERMINING IF PHASE II FUNDING IS WARRANTED.