Particle Size Distribution by Capillary Hydrodynamic Fracionation. New Approach Based on Multi-wavelength UV Detection

CLEMENTI, L.A.; AGIRRE, M.; LEIZA, J.R.; GUGLIOTTA, L.M.; VEGA, J.R.

Cancún

Simposio; XV Simposio Latinoamericano de Polímeros / XIII Congreso Iberoamericano de Polímeros, SLAP 2016; 2016

Sociedad Polimérica de México

The particle size distribution (PSD) of a polymer latex can importantly influence several properties such as the rheological behaviors, the chemical stabilities, the coagulation processes, and the diffusion rates of the final product. There are several techniques for estimating the PSD of a latex.1 In capillary hydrodynamic fractionation (CHDF), the particles are fractionated according to size inside a capillary. A single-wavelength UV-spectrometer is often used for measuring the particle concentration of each eluted fraction.2 Unfortunately, CHDF exhibits several drawbacks: i) it requires a calibration; ii) the particle refractive index must be known; and iii) it exhibits instrumental broadening. As a consequence, the PSDs estimated by CHDF typically exhibits meaningful errors. A new approach is here proposed for estimating the PSD of a latex by CHDF with UV detection collected at several wavelengths. The new method is evaluated on the basis of three polystyrene (PS) latexes that exhibit PSDs with different sizes and shapes.