Polybutadiene HPLC analysis

This simple and rapid HPLC analysis provides direct proof of the structure of the polymers. The classical approach which compares measured Mn to measured hydroxyl equivalent shows only that on average there is one hydroxyl group per molecule. Chromatography has been used to do similar analyses of hydrocarbon polymers such as polystyrene and polybutadiene. Our work shows that this technique is general and can be applied to more polar polymers. 

Among the techniques employed to estimate the average molecular weight distribution of polymers are end-group analysis, dilute solution viscosity, reduction in vapor pressure, ebuUiometry, cryoscopy, vapor pressure osmometry, fractionation, hplc, phase distribution chromatography, field flow fractionation, and gel-permeation chromatography (gpc). For routine analysis of SBR polymers, gpc is widely accepted. Table 1 lists a number of physical properties of SBR (random) compared to natural mbber, solution polybutadiene, and SB block copolymer. 

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