Page 317 - Multidimensional Chromatography

Industrial and Polymer Applications 307

Figure 12.1 Analysis of Tinuvin 1577 in 30% virgin olive oil (in hexane), showing (a) the
gas chromatogram comparing the pure oil with a sample at the Tinuvin 1577 detection limit
concentration, and (b) the corresponding liquid chromatogram. Reprinted from Journal of
High Resolution Chromatography, 20, A. L. Baner and A. Guggenberger, ‘Analysis of Tinuvin
1577 polymer additive in edible oils using on-line coupled HPLC–GC’, pp. 669–673, 1997,
with permission from Wiley-VCH.

high-molecular-weight material within the sample, thus preventing its transfer into
the GC capillary column. The combination of SEC with capillary GC is very useful
in the analysis of volatile compounds from complex mixtures.
A multidimensional system using capillary SEC–GC–MS was used for the rapid
identification of various polymer additives, including antioxidants, plasticizers,
lubricants, flame retardants, waxes and UV stabilizers (12). This technique could be
used for additives having broad functionalities and wide volatility ranges. The deter-
mination of the additives in polymers was carried out without performing any exten-
sive manual sample pretreatment. In the first step, microcolumn SEC excludes the
polymer matrix from the smaller-molecular-size additives. There is a minimal intro-
duction of the polymer into the capillary GC column. Optimization of the pore sizes
of the SEC packings was used to enhance the resolution between the polymer and its
additives, and smaller pore sizes could be used to exclude more of the polymer