Aqueous Gel Permeation Chromatography

Aqueous Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC), also known as Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC), is a widely used analytical technique for separating and characterizing water-soluble polymers, biopolymers, and macromolecules based on their hydrodynamic size in solution. Unlike techniques that rely on chemical interactions between the analyte and the stationary phase, aqueous GPC separates molecules primarily based on their physical size.

As part of our full GPC expertise, our scientists routinely perform aqueous GPC analysis for analysis of a wide range of water-soluble polymers. Using refractive index detection, we can measure molecular weights in the range 200-in excess of 1million Daltons (PEO/PEG equivalent) and supply data supporting molecular weight distributions, Mw, Mn and Mz.

Mobile Phase Selection
The choice of mobile phase is critical in aqueous GPC. It must dissolve the analyte without altering its structure or causing aggregation. Buffer systems with controlled pH and ionic strength are often employed to stabilize macromolecules such as proteins or nucleic acids. Additives such as salts or surfactants can be used to minimize non-specific interactions between the analyte and the stationary phase.

How Intertek can help
Intertek’s polymer testing team have supported global innovators across the chemicals, pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, materials, biocides and food sectors using aqueous GPC to generate robust molecular weight information to support polymer development, regulatory characterization and quality assurance/quality control testing to support production.

Some of the applications for the aqueous gel chromatography analysis of polymers that we have worked on include:

Polyvinyl alcohol
Polysaccharide oligomers and Water-soluble higher polysaccharides
Hydroxymethyl cellulose
Polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyethylene oxide (PEO)
Synthetic polyanions, such as poly(meth)acrylic acid polystyrene sulfonate
Polyvinylpyrrolidone
Polyacrylamide
Polyacrylic acid
Hyaluronic acid

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