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

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目将继续开发和商业化仪器，通过尺寸排除色谱（SEC）和基质辅助激光解吸/电离质谱（MALDI-MS）的自动组合来提高测定多分散合成聚合物分子量的准确性。两种技术的结合消除了由于样品的多分散性、SEC标准的不兼容性和样品结构的复杂性而产生的误差。SEC洗脱液被“涂”在箔上，预涂有MALDI-MS矩阵，以产生由MALDI-MS激光自动探测的轨迹。对光谱进行求和，并用合成物计算分子量矩。研究将量化质量鉴别、基质/分析物比、聚合物溶解度和MALDI-MS仪器偏差的影响。原型接口硬件将简化，以方便操作和降低成本，以更广泛的吸引力。本项目由两家高分子仪器生产企业和两家高分子生产企业支持。全球约有8000个实验室常规使用SEC进行分子量测定，以控制和预测聚合物的性能。MALDI-MS是发展最快的大分子分析仪器技术。

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.