Use of combined chromatographic methods including thin-layer chromatography for analysis of complex polymer systems. Determination of the polydispersity of block copolymers of styrene and methyl methacrylate by gel permeation, thin-layer and pyrolysis gas chromatography.

A combination of gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and pyrolysis gas chromatography (PGC) has been used for investigations of a polymethyl methacrylate-polystyrene-polymethyl methacrylate block copolymer. Continuous distribution of the polymer (40-mg sample) was attained according to the content of the styrene and methyl methacrylate units and of the block copolymer and according to the composition of the copolymer as functions of the hydrodynamic radius of the macromolecules. The polymer was subjected to a preliminary fractionation with an analytical gel chromatograph. The fractions were investigated by TLC, which permitted the separation of the block copolymer and the homopolymers. The composition of the fractions obtained by GPC and TLC was determined by PGC. As a result, it was possible to establish the composition of the block copolymer and its ratio to polymethyl methacrylate in each fraction. This investigation was based on a combination of highly effective fractionation by chromatographic methods with precise quantitative ratios obtained from Benoit's universal calibration graph and from determinations of the composition of the polymer fractions by PGC. The mechanism of the TLC of polymers, including the appearance of artefacts that distort the results of analysis, is also discussed.