TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterization of comb-shaped copolymers by Multidetection SEC, DLS and SANS
AU - Gelardi, Giulia
AU - Sanson, Nicolas
AU - Nagy, Gergely
AU - Flatt, Robert J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - PolyCarboxylate ether-based superplasticizers (PCEs) are a type of comb-shaped copolymers used as polymeric dispersants in cementitious materials. PCEs have a high degree of dispersity, which limits the suitability of conventional characterization techniques, such as Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC). Properties of PCEs strongly depend on their molecular structure and a comprehensive characterization is needed to fully understand the structure-property relationships. PCEs with well-defined molecular structures were synthesized to study their solution conformation by SEC and scattering techniques. The combined use of SEC, dynamic light scattering and small-angle neutron scattering allowed us to demonstrate the validity of a scaling law describing the radius of gyration of comb-shaped copolymers as a function of their molecular structure. Moreover, we show that the use of SEC with standard calibration, although widely spread, is not adequate for PCEs.
AB - PolyCarboxylate ether-based superplasticizers (PCEs) are a type of comb-shaped copolymers used as polymeric dispersants in cementitious materials. PCEs have a high degree of dispersity, which limits the suitability of conventional characterization techniques, such as Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC). Properties of PCEs strongly depend on their molecular structure and a comprehensive characterization is needed to fully understand the structure-property relationships. PCEs with well-defined molecular structures were synthesized to study their solution conformation by SEC and scattering techniques. The combined use of SEC, dynamic light scattering and small-angle neutron scattering allowed us to demonstrate the validity of a scaling law describing the radius of gyration of comb-shaped copolymers as a function of their molecular structure. Moreover, we show that the use of SEC with standard calibration, although widely spread, is not adequate for PCEs.
KW - Comb-shaped copolymers
KW - Dynamic light scattering
KW - Multidetection size-exclusion chromatography
KW - Radius of gyration
KW - Small-angle neutron scattering
KW - Solution conformation
KW - Superplasticizer
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013628632&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/polym9020061
DO - 10.3390/polym9020061
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85013628632
SN - 2073-4360
VL - 9
JO - Polymers
JF - Polymers
IS - 2
M1 - 61
ER -