QUANTITATIVE POLYMER ADDITIVE ANALYSIS BY MULTIDIMENSIONAL CHROMATOGRAPHY USING ONLINE COUPLED MICROCOLUMN SIZE EXCLUSION CHROMATOGRAPHY AS A PRELIMINARY SEPARATION

The quantitative determination of polymer additives using a multidimensional system consisting of microcolumn size exclusion chromatography (micro SEC) coupled on-line to a capillary gas chromatograph and to a conventional size LC system is described. The results obtained were compared to conventional sample preparation procedures consisting of dissolution of the polymer followed by precipitation and analysis of the supernatant. Results obtained for two polymer systems studied indicated losses for some additives using the precipitation approach. An on-line coupled micro-SEC-LC system was investigated for the separation of compounds in which the volatility may not allow determination via capillary GC. The lower volumetric dispersion given by the microcolumns allowed introduction of the complete additive fraction without detrimental effects on the peak shape or resolution.