Polymer Molecular Weight Determination

Intertek ASG Laboratory, Manchester, UK

Polymer Molecular Weight Determination

Analytical Testing Services for Polymer Products and Polymeric Pharmaceutical Ingredients

Intertek ASG laboratory offers polymer characterization capabilities which allow determination of polymer molecular weight and molecular weight distribution for a variety of polymer types. Data can be used in product registration and notification packages, process studies on product consistency, research support on characterization of new polymer products and formulations and problem solving for polymer products in applications ranging from surface coatings to pharmaceuticals.

Polymer types analysed include:

Organic solvent soluble polymers, solid and liquid form
Water soluble polymers
Water dispersed polymers
Charged polymers, both anionic and cationic
Block copolymers, graft copolymers
Oligomers such as dispersants, surfactants
Biopolymers such as proteins and sugars

The main applicable technologies are:

GPC (Gel Permeation Chromatography)
MALLS (Multi Angle Laser Light Scattering), for determination of absolute molecular weight
GPC-MALLS
Viscometry
GPC-Viscometry-RALLS (Right Angle Laser Light Scattering)
MALDI-TOF MS (Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption / Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry)
A range of techniques for oligomers including NMR, GC-MS, high resolution probe MS (DEI / DCI) and MALDI-TOF

For GPC, detection techniques available include:

UV and RI (Refractive Index)
Fluorescence
Laser light scattering
Viscosity
ELSD (Evaporative Light Scattering Detection)