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Using Polystyrene-block-poly(acrylic acid)-coated Metal Nanoparticles as Monomers for Their Homo- and Co-polymerization
Published on: July 9, 2015
Separation of poly(styrene-block-t-butyl methacrylate) copolymers by various liquid chromatography techniques
Tina Smigovec Ljubič1, David Pahovnik, Majda Zigon
1Laboratory for Polymer Chemistry and Technology, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Abstract:
The separation of a mixture of three poly(styrene-block-t-butyl methacrylate) copolymers (PS-b-PtBMA), consisting of polystyrene (PS) blocks of similar length and t-butyl methacrylate (PtBMA) blocks of different lengths, was performed using various chromatographic techniques, that is, a gradient liquid chromatography on reversed-phase (C18 and C8) and normal-phase columns, a liquid chromatography under critical conditions for polystyrene as well as a fully automated two-dimensional liquid chromatography that separates block copolymers by chemical composition in the first dimension and by molar mass in the second dimension. The results show that a partial separation of the mixture of PS-b-PtBMA copolymers can be achieved only by gradient liquid chromatography on reversed-phase columns. The coelution of the two block copolymers is ascribed to a much shorter PtBMA block length, compared to the PS block, as well as a small difference in the length of the PtBMA block in two of these copolymers, which was confirmed by SEC-MALS and NMR spectroscopy.
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