Abstract
The displacement of hydrodynamic volume universal calibration curves to high retention volumes for some polymer-solvent systems is explained in terms of a network-limited separation consisting of a steric exclusion mechanism and a second mechanism resulting from polymer-gel interactions. This treatment is consistent with a thermodynamic interpretation of GPC separations in which the distribution coefficient (≥ 1.0) for polymer-gel interactions is determined by an enthalpy change for polymer partition or polymer adsorption in the porous packing. Examples of the application of the network-limited treatment to experimental data obtained with crosslinked polystyrene gels and inorganic packings are presented. Network-limited separations in which the distribution coefficient for polymergel interactions is less than unity correspond to partial exclusion by polymer incompatibility with the gel. Experimental data for the early elution of poly(vinyl acetate) are consistent with an incompatibility mechanism, giving a dependence of the distribution coefficient for polymer-gel interactions on the molecular weight of poly(vinyl acetate).

This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit: