Highspeed GPC Separations

The precision and accuracy of Highspeed separations have been investigated in relation to various applications. Both the accuracy of molar mass restdts and the reproducibility have been comparable to results obtained with conventional columns [3b]. 

The overall time savings can even be greater when taking the complete analytical process into account. The total run time of an instrument consists of the preparation and equilibration time, the time needed for running the calibration standards, and the run time for the unknown samples. If ten individual standards are used for calibration and ten samples are run, the total run time on a conventional system will be about two days and a night. On a Highspeed system, the same work will require only about 3 h and so can easily be done in a single day [3b]. 

The cost-saving aspects of high-throughput GPC techniques can be substantial and have been evaluated for different scenarios. 

Polyalkenes, other synthetic polymers, and water-soluble macromolecules have been investigated using Highspeed GPC systems. Highspeed GPC can be a big time-saver in two-dimensional chromatography applications, which require about 10 h of analysis time for cross-fractionation. This can be reduced by a factor of ten to about 1 h, which makes it much more appealing for many laboratories. Details of these and additional Highspeed applications can be found in Refs. [3b, 4]. 

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