ABSTRACT
Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) is at present the most common method of investigating the molecular-weight heterogeneity of high-molecular compounds. The concept of ‘efficiency’ has undergone a considerable evolution in the course of gel chromatography development. Since the discovery of GPC it has been regarded as an efficient technique of polymers fractionation, as it allowed obtaining a chromatogram constituting the mirror image of the differential MWD curve for a polymer sample within 2–3 h, which needed several days if one used the traditional fractionation techniques. A characteristic feature of oligomers is a sharp change in the physico-chemical properties of macromolecules, depending on the degree of polymerization. The values of correction factors for homologous series can be represented in tabular or graphic form. The use of GPC in the classical version to estimate the FTD of oligomers is still limited. The use of GPC in the classical version to estimate the FTD of oligomers is still limited.
