Scale-up study of high osmotic pressure chromatography for separation of poly(epsilon-caprolactone)

Methods to prepare fractions of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) with a narrow molecular mass distribution in large quantities have been examined using high osmotic pressure chromatography under the theta condition. Effects of column dimension and coupling columns in series on the separation resolution were studied. We found that use of a thicker column can improve the resolution if adverse effects of viscous fingering are avoided. We also demonstrated that coupling the columns results in a better separation if the second column does not adsorb high-molecular-mass components purified in the first column.