PREPARATION OF MONODISPERSE POLYMER SAMPLES BY SOLUBILITY DIFFERENCE METHOD

An attempt was made to prepare the polymer fractions having extremely sharp molecular weight distribution (MWD), by using a successive solutional fractionation (SSF) method, in which a polymer-lean phase was separated as a fraction from a polymer-rich phase. For this purpose a large-scale preparative SSF appartus was constructed. Atactic polystyrene (PS) high-density polyethylene (PE), and cellulose di- and tri-acetates (CDA and CTA) were fractionated by SSF. The fractions isolated from a quasi-binary mixture (polymer/solvent system) have the same MWD as that predicted by the computer simulation technique.