Liquid chromatography of polymers at the exclusion-adsorption transition point: Physicochemical interpretation

This paper deals with liquid chromatography of polymers at the exclusion-adsorption transition point (LC EATP). In order to better understand and define this specific elution mode, all polymer chains with the same chemical structure are eluted at the identical retention time whatever their molar mass, a physicochemical study dealing with solution properties of polymers was undertaken. A correlation between polystyrene dimensions and this chromatographic mode was attempted by viscometry and light scattering measurements. The influence of temperature was also studied. It was demonstrated that EATP is obtained for specific values of polymer/adsorbent interactions, for a given eluent desorli/adsorli, and for a "critical polarity" of the eluent.