The chromatography of poly(phenylene ether) on a porous graphitic carbon sorbent

A Porous Graphitic Carbon (PGC) column was evaluated for the analysis of poly(phenylene ether) (PPE). This column appears particularly well-suited for the separation of this polymer. Conditions for the elution of PPE either in adsorption mode with chloroform or size exclusion with 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (TCB) as eluent were established. Elution of homologous species is obtained in chloroform that follows Martin's rule. A separation based on a gradient consisting of a sequence of non-solvent (acetonitrile), solvent/adsorli (chloroform) provided the highest peak capacity. In TCB, it is possible to obtain rapid size-based separation: with a flow rate of 0.7ml/min, the run time is less than two minutes for a series of polystyrene standards. The PGC column performs remarkably well in this mode and may be a viable solution when a short analysis time is critical such as in a combinatorial laboratory or in a two-dimensional chromatograph. In addition to its value as a sorbent for polymer separation, this column also deserves the attention of the materials engineer. Indeed, the PGC sorbent can be used as a model to probe the interaction between polymers and graphitic fillers such as carbon nanotubes or graphite nanosheets.