Size-exclusion chromatography/matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization and SEC/NMR techniques for polymer characterization

Measurements on a series of random copolymers with units of methyl methacrylate (MMA), butyl acrylate (BA), styrene (St), and maleic anhydride (MAH) are performed. A characterization method is used which consists in fractionating the copolymer by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), collecting 30-40 fractions and then recording both the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) spectra of the fractions. In a successive step, Bivariate Distribution of chain sizes and composition maps are derived from knowledge of the molar mass, weight, and composition of the copolymer fractions.