Conclusions and Future Trends
5
Polyolefins are one of the most important synthetic polymeric materials in all
spheres of human activities ranging from packaging and construction to computer
science and medicine. Of all synthetic polymers produced today, they account for
more than 50 %. Similar to other polymeric materials, polyolefins are distributed in
their molecular properties and in-depth analysis of these properties is required using
the most sophisticated analytical methods. This helps to establish structure–property relationships and broadens the application of polyolefins in science and
technology.
The classical techniques for chemical composition analysis of polyolefins are
based on crystallization behaviour of different components of these materials.
These techniques are only applicable for the crystalline part of the sample and the
amorphous part is obtained as a bulk fraction. Although the methods themselves are
very reliable and robust, they require long analysis times and significant amounts of
solvents. Nevertheless, these techniques are still the analytical workhorse in most
polyolefin research laboratories. The reason behind this is that most of the commercially important polyolefin materials are semi-crystalline.
There are a number of recent advancements in these techniques that allow to
decrease analysis times significantly, to obtain better resolution and more detailed
understanding of the underlying physical processes through mathematical
modelling. The most fascinating innovation in this regard is development of
crystallization elution fractionation (CEF). CEF combines the separation power
of both temperature rising elution fractionation and crystallization analysis fractionation resulting in better separation of fractions along with considerable reduction in analysis time. CEF has the promise and potential to be the major technique in
crystallization analysis in future.
High-temperature (HT) size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is the premier
technique for information with regard to molar masses. A number of different
concentration detectors as well as molar mass sensitive detectors can be used.
The coupling of HT-SEC with spectroscopic techniques like FTIR and
1 H-NMR
reveals the chemical composition across the MMD of the sample. Other important
# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
H. Pasch, M.I. Malik, Advanced Separation Techniques for Polyolefins, Springer
Laboratory, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-08632-3_5
173
5
Polyolefins are one of the most important synthetic polymeric materials in all
spheres of human activities ranging from packaging and construction to computer
science and medicine. Of all synthetic polymers produced today, they account for
more than 50 %. Similar to other polymeric materials, polyolefins are distributed in
their molecular properties and in-depth analysis of these properties is required using
the most sophisticated analytical methods. This helps to establish structure–property relationships and broadens the application of polyolefins in science and
technology.
The classical techniques for chemical composition analysis of polyolefins are
based on crystallization behaviour of different components of these materials.
These techniques are only applicable for the crystalline part of the sample and the
amorphous part is obtained as a bulk fraction. Although the methods themselves are
very reliable and robust, they require long analysis times and significant amounts of
solvents. Nevertheless, these techniques are still the analytical workhorse in most
polyolefin research laboratories. The reason behind this is that most of the commercially important polyolefin materials are semi-crystalline.
There are a number of recent advancements in these techniques that allow to
decrease analysis times significantly, to obtain better resolution and more detailed
understanding of the underlying physical processes through mathematical
modelling. The most fascinating innovation in this regard is development of
crystallization elution fractionation (CEF). CEF combines the separation power
of both temperature rising elution fractionation and crystallization analysis fractionation resulting in better separation of fractions along with considerable reduction in analysis time. CEF has the promise and potential to be the major technique in
crystallization analysis in future.
High-temperature (HT) size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is the premier
technique for information with regard to molar masses. A number of different
concentration detectors as well as molar mass sensitive detectors can be used.
The coupling of HT-SEC with spectroscopic techniques like FTIR and
1 H-NMR
reveals the chemical composition across the MMD of the sample. Other important
# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
H. Pasch, M.I. Malik, Advanced Separation Techniques for Polyolefins, Springer
Laboratory, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-08632-3_5
173