Malvern’s GPC systems have taken center stage on its booth at SPE 2013 taking place in Houston this week.
Capable of measuring absolute molecular weight distribution, molecular size and structural characteristics, such as extent of branching, in a single experiment, the systems are designed to provide the understanding required to engineer high performance polymers.
For a polymer, molecular weight and molecular weight distribution directly impact performance. GPC is the technique usually employed for measurement.
Malvern Instruments’ technology for polyolefin characterisation includes high temperature versions of the Viscotek TDA Max multi-detector GPC system and of the dilute solution viscometry (DSV) system, which offers safe, efficient, high throughput intrinsic viscosity (IV) measurement.
IV directly correlates with molecular weight and is a commonly specified QC metric.
Both systems are designed to operate at the high temperatures (up to 160oC) required for the complete dissolution, and analysis, of polyethylene and polypropylene.
For polymers that can be analysed at lower temperatures, Malvern offers a range of detectors that can be added to any GPC system to enhance information flow.
These include UV detectors which can quantify, for example, the amount of each monomer in a copolymer, and light scattering detectors that measure molecular weight distribution without calibration.
In combination with a viscometer these enable the investigation of molecular structure.
The SPE International Polyolefins Conference is taking place in Houston TX, USA from 24th to 27th February 2013.
To learn more about the system, please click on the link above.
