Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC)

Presentation

The Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC) Division is one of the 10 instrumental clusters that make up the Advanced Characterization Platform of the Michel-Eugène Chevreul Institute.

It comprises five size exclusion chromatography systems (also known as Gel Permeation Chromatography, GPC) using various solvents (DMF, THF, chloroform, etc.) to enable the dissolution of a wide range of polymers, followed by the separation of these macromolecules according to their molar mass and conformation.

All five systems are equipped with a differential refractometer and may also include other types of detectors, such as:

  • UV–visible spectrometers
  • Dynamic or static light scattering detectors
  • Viscometers

These complementary detectors make it possible to determine a comprehensive set of macromolecular characteristics.

 

For any analysis request, please send an email to the following address: pole-SEC_at_univ-lille.fr

Location 
(D6) Chevreul Institute Building – Cité Scientifique
59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq, France

Staff:

  •  Aurélie Malfait (Scientific and Technical Head of the Cluster)
  • Maxence Epinat (Technical Head)

 

The SEC Division is open to all partners (researchers, students, and industrial collaborators) wishing to carry out detailed characterization of their polymers in organic media.

Macromolecular characteristics that can be studied (depending on the detector type):

  • Determination of average molar masses (Mn, Mw), relative or absolute
  • Determination of dispersity (Ð) or molar mass distribution
  • Determination of macromolecular size, including radius of gyration (Rg) and hydrodynamic radius (Rh)
  • Determination of branching rate
  • Measurement of intrinsic viscosity
  • Calculation of refractive index increment (dn/dc)

 

Equipment and Technical Description:

  • 1 Size Exclusion Chromatography system in chloroform (Agilent) equipped with two detectors: differential refractometer and multi-angle light scattering (Wyatt).
  • 1 Size Exclusion Chromatography system in DMF (Agilent) equipped with two detectors: differential refractometer and multi-angle light scattering (Wyatt).
  • 1 Size Exclusion Chromatography system in THF (Agilent) equipped with two detectors: differential refractometer and multi-angle light scattering (Malvern).
  • 1 Quadruple-detection Size Exclusion Chromatography system (UV–visible, differential refractometer, light scattering, and viscometer) in THF, with the possibility of changing solvent (Agilent).
  • 1 Size Exclusion Chromatography system in THF equipped with three detectors: differential refractometer, UV–visible spectrometer, and time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ToF) (Agilent).
  • 1 Differential refractometer dedicated to the calculation of refractive index increment.