2D gel permeation chromatography (2D GPC) correlation studies of the growth process for perfluoro-octyltriethoxysilane polymer aggregates

Abstract

A novel analytical technique, two-dimensional correlation gel permeation chromatography (2D correlation GPC), has been used to elucidate intricate details of the two-step (I and II) polymerization of 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoro-octyltriethoxysilane (PFOTES) catalyzed by 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 M HCl·H2O over a time period of 600–14 400 s. The 2D GPC correlation results demonstrate that each elution band (particularly, in step II) consists of two (reactive and nonreactive) components and that a higher HCl concentration enhances the correlation of the reactive component with other bands. It is suggested that rapid growth of the polymeric aggregates in step II may be caused by the appearance of these reactive components.