SBIR Phase II: Combining Size Exclusion Chromatography and MALDI-MS to More Accurately Determine the Molecular Weight of Polydisperse Polymers

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to continue development and commercialization of instrumentation to improve the accuracy of the determination of the molecular weight of polydispersive synthetic polymers by the automated combination of Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC) and Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-MS). Combining both techniques eliminates errors due to sample polydispersity, SEC standards incompatibility and complexity in sample structure. The SEC eluent is "painted" onto a foil, precoated with MALDI-MS matrix, to produce a track which is automatically probed by the MALDI-MS laser. The spectra are summed and the composite used to calculate molecular weight moments. Research will quantify the effects of mass discrimination, matrix/analyte ratio, polymer solubility and MALDI-MS instrumental bias. Prototype interface hardware will be simplified for ease of operation and cost reduced for wider appeal. The project is supported by two manufacturers of polymer instrumentation and two polymer manufacturers. Some 8000 laboratories world-wide routinely use SEC for molecular weight determination to control and predict polymer performance. MALDI-MS is the fastest growing instrumental technique for large molecule analysis.