Acquisition of a Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometer for the Analysis of Polymers

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9703946 Wesdemiotis This award provides support for a time-of-flight mass spectrometer equipped with matrix-assisted laser desorption / ionization (MALDI-TOF-MS), for the analysis of polymeric materials. The instrument will support ongoing and future studies within the Departments of Polymer Science and Chemistry at the University of Akron, a leading center of polymer research for over forty years. Many of the projects carried out in these departments regularly require characterization of the mass, composition, integrity, and purity of synthetic polymers. These issues can be addressed with high specificity by MALDI mass spectrometry, a technique that is not currently available at the University. Polymer research at the University of Akron is focused on the synthesis of novel polymeric materials and the examination of their physical and mechanical properties. Specific research areas will benefit from MALDI-MS including (1) synthesis of new organic and silicon-organic polymers, (ii) development of new methods for polymer functionalization, (iii) new polymerization mechanisms including living cationic polymerization and group- transfer polymerization, (iv) preparation of cyclic and radial star-branched polymers, (v) evaluation of the relationship between structure and properties of macromolecules, and (vi) biopolymer / synthetic polymer comparison studies. The instrument will also be accessible to other researchers at the University of Akron who need MALDI-MS to solve analytical problems. %%% The University of Akron is an active participant in the Edison Polymer Innovation Corporation (EPIC), a state-sponsored consortium with Case Western Reserve University and local polymer corporations. Joint projects within this consortium have fostered close ties between the Department of Polymer Science and researchers in the EPIC community which, at present, lacks a MALDI mass spectrometry capability for synthetic polymers. The planned MALDI-MS facility at the University of Akron will provide this service to EPIC collaborators and to other scientists in northeast Ohio requiring mass spectrometry for the solution of structural problems. MALDI-TOF-MS is the method of choice for the analysis of polymeric materials. It can supply rapidly and accurately the molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of polymers. With lower molecular weight polymers (10 kDa), the technique provides insight about the repeat units, end groups, and other compositional properties. For polymers of reasonably low polydispersity (Mw/Mn ~1.5), MALDI has the ability to determine directly average molecular weight parameters. For polymers of higher polydispersity, narrow fractions (obtained, e.g., via GPC separations) can be successfully analyzed by MALDI. Such information is essential for giving definitive answers to the challenging problems encountered in synthetic and mechanistic polymer studies. ***