Polymer separators

Phase Separation. Microporous polymer systems consisting of essentially spherical, intercoimected voids, with a narrow range of pore and ceU-size distribution have been produced from a variety of thermoplastic resins by the phase-separation technique (127). If a polyolefin or polystyrene is insoluble in a solvent at low temperature but soluble at high temperatures, the solvent can be used to prepare a microporous polymer. When the solutions, containing 10—70% polymer, are cooled to ambient temperatures, the polymer separates as a second phase. The remaining nonsolvent can then be extracted from the solid material with common organic solvents. These microporous polymers may be useful in microfiltrations or as controlled-release carriers for a variety of chemicals. 

The preferred catalyst is one which contains 5% of chromium oxides, mainly Cr03, on a finely divided silica-alumina catalyst (75-90% silica) which has been activated by heating to about 250°C. After reaction the mixture is passed to a gas-liquid separator where the ethylene is flashed off, catalyst is then removed from the liquid product of the separator and the polymer separated from the solvent by either flashing off the solvent or precipitating the polymer by cooling. 

This parameter was introduced in the ISO/EN and DIN standard quoted earlier. In order to have good polymer separation efficiency, the following criterion has to be met ... 

Polyacrylates are an industrially important class of polymers. The name polyacrylate is variously used to refer to polymers of acrylate esters [e.g., poly(methyl methacrylate)] as well as polymers of acrylic acids [e.g., poly(meth-acrylic acid)]. Because the former is organic soluble while the latter is not, chromatographic analysis of these two requires quite different conditions. This chapter discusses both types of polymers, separating their consideration when necessary. We will refer to both types of polymers as polyacrylates, letting the context indicate whether we are referring to an ester or to an acid polymer. 

COLUMNS FOR OTHER RELATED POLYMER SEPARATION OR FRACTIONATION TECHNIQUES... 

Examples shown in this chapter are for PMMA. Other polymers can be separated as well. The polymers separated so far (1,2) include polystyrene, poly(a-methylstyrene), polycaprolactone, polycarbonate, poly(hexyl isocyanate), polytetrahydrofuran, poly (vinyl methyl ether), and polyvinylpyrrolidone. 

Imanishi, Y. Synthese, Conformation, and Reactions of Cyclic Peptides. Vol. 20, pp. 1 — 77. Inagaki, H. Polymer Separation and Characterization by Thin-Layer Chromatography. Vol. 24, pp. 189-237. 

Inagaki, H. Polymer Separation and Characterization by Thin-Layer Chromatography. 

Barth, H. G., Hyphenated polymer separation techniques present and future role, in Chromatographic Characterization of Polymers, Hyphenated and Multidimensional Techniques, Provder, T., Barth, H. G., and Urban, M. W., Eds., American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1995, chap. 1. 

Apart from paints, electrokinetic separations find limited application for synthetic polymers [905], mainly because of solvent compatibility (CE is mostly an aqueous technique) and competition of SEC (reproducibility). Reasons in favour of the use of CE-like methods for polymer analysis are speed, sample throughput and low solvent consumption. Nevertheless, CE provides some interesting possibilities for polymer separation. Electrokinetic methods have been developed based on differences in ionisation, degree of interaction with solvent constituents, and molecular size and conformation. 

Isotactic poly(methyl methacrylate/methacrylic acid), a copolymer of methyl methacrylate and methacrylic acid, was synthesized by the partial hydrolysis of isotactic poly(MMA) according to the method of Klesper et al. (10-13). A hydrolyzing mixture of 8 mL dioxane and 4 mL methanolic KOH (10% by weight K0H) was mixed with 250 mg of polymer in closed vials at 85°C for 48 hr. Saponified polymer separated from the solution and adhered to the walls of the vial. The precipitated polymer was dissolved in water and then precipitated again with a few drops of HC1. The solution was warmed and the coagulated polymer removed, washed with water, and dried in vacuo at 50°C. The nmr spectrum indicated approxi-... 

DA Hoagland. Unified thermodynamic model for polymer separations produced by size exclusion chromatography, hydrodynamic chromatography, and gel electrophoresis. ACS Symp Ser 635 173-188, 1996. 

In Fig. 10.4 there is a temperature range in which two polymers form a miscible blend. Why do the polymers separate into distinct phases at both high and low temperatures ... 

Figure 12. Gel permeation chromatogram of latex polymer separated from composite silica-polystyrene latex system, SPL(HPC).

When the polymerization of St was carried out with 51 under conditions identical to those in Fig. 3, i.e., [7]/4=[8]/2=51=2X 10-3 mol/1, the formation of benzene-insoluble polymers was observed from the initial stage of the polymerization. Although 7 and 8 induced living radical mono and diradical polymerization similar to that previously mentioned, benzene-insoluble polymers were formed in the polymerization with 51, and the molecular weight of the soluble polymers separated decreased with the reaction time. This suggests that a part of the propagating polymer radicals underwent ordinary bimolecular termination by recombination, leading to the formation of the cross-linked polymer, which was prevented by the addition of 13. 

The advantages of supercritical fluid chromatography for polymer separations have been illustrated in the literature for many years. A recent example is the separation of long-chain polyprenols using SFC with matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization TOF mass spectrometry [10]. The generic name for 1,4-polyprenyl alcohols is polyprenol these compounds generally have smaller polymerization chains of less... 

Poly(acrylic acid) is not soluble in its monomer and in the course of the bulk polymerization of acrylic acid the polymer separates as a fine powder. The conversion curves exhibit an initial auto-acceleration followed by a long pseudo-stationary process ( 3). This behaviour is very similar to that observed earlier in the bulk polymerization of acrylonitrile. The non-ideal kinetic relationships determined experimentally in the polymerization of these two monomers are summarized in Table I. It clearly appears that the kinetic features observed in both systems are strikingly similar. In addition, the poly(acrylic acid) formed in bulk over a fairly broad range of temperatures (20 to 76°C) exhibits a high degree of syndiotacticity and can be crystallized readily (3). 

Keywords MonolithPorous polymer, Separation, HPLC, Capillary electrochromatography, Enzyme immobilization, Modification... 

The geometries for asymmetric mixed-matrix membranes include flat sheets, hollow fibers and thin-fihn composites. The flat sheet asymmetric mixed-matrix membranes are formed into spirally wound modules and the hollow fiber asymmetric mixed-matrix membranes are formed into hollow fiber modules. The thin-film composite mixed-matrix membranes can be fabricated into either spirally wound or hollow fiber modules. The thin-film composite geometry of mixed-matrix membranes enables selection of different membrane materials for the support layer and low-cost production of asymmetric mixed-matrix membranes utilizing a relatively high-cost zeolite/polymer separating layer on the support layer. 

The uptake of electrolyte by many hydrophobic polymer separators can be enhanced either by wetting agents or ionic-functional groups (e.g. ion-exchange membranes). 

One of the key steps en route to a 3-D nanoscopic battery requires fabricating an ultrathin film of a polymer separator/electrolyte over chemically stable, physically rugged, cation-insertion oxide scaffolds, such as supported films of MnOx ambigels. ° In... 

Such conformal, ultrathin polymer separators must satisfy a range of physical and chemical requirements in order to perform at the level necessary for charge insertion on the nanometer scale. These attributes include (i) highly electronically insulating, preferably... 

Figure 27. Schematic for solid-state electrical measurements with ultrathin polymer separators electrodeposited onto planar indium—tin oxide (ITO) or Au substrates. The top electrode makes a soft contact with the polymer by slow evaporation of Au or direct contact with a liquid metal (either Hg or Gain eutectic) using a micrometer-controlled syringe to control the approach to contact. Measurements are made in an argon-filled glovebox to minimize effects of O2 and H2O.

Figure 3.9 contains the results of a polymer separation using SEC. Here, two different polymer samples are initially added (far left). One polymer sample is a relatively low molecular weight sample with a fairly homogeneous chain size distribution. The second polymer contains longer chains with a broader MWD. As time elapses (second from the left) the two different samples separate, with the sample containing the shorter chains moving... 

MPa, corresponding to about 90% conversion, excess monomer is vented off to be recycled. Removal of residual monomer typically involves passing the reaction mixture through a countercurrent of steam. The reaction mixture is then cooled, and the polymer separated, dried in hot air at about 100°C, sieved to remove any oversized particles, and stored. Typical number-average molecular weights for commercial PVC are in the range 30,000-80,000. 

Certain SEC applications solicit specific experimental conditions. The most common reason is the limited sample solubility. In this case, special solvents or increased temperature are inavoid-able. A possibility to improve sample solubility and quality of eluent offer multicomponent solvents (Sections 16.2.2 and 16.8.2). The selectivity of polymer separation by SEC drops with the deteriorating eluent quality due to decreasing differences in the hydrodynamic volume of macromolecules with different molar masses. The system peaks appear on the chromatograms obtained with mixed eluents due to preferential solvation of sample molecules (Sections 16.3.2 and 16.3.3). The multicomponent eluents may create system peaks also as a result of the (preferential) sorption of their components within column packing [144,145]. The extent of preferential sorption is often sensitive toward pressure variations [69,70,146-149]. Even if the specific detectors are used, which do not see the eluent composition changes, it is necessary to discriminate the bulk sample solvent from the SEC separated macromolecules otherwise the determined molecular characteristics can be affected. This is especially important if the analyzed polymer contains a tail of fractions possessing lower molar masses (Sections 16.4.4 and 16.4.5). 

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