The Chromatogram Series: PNIPAM
PNIPAM is a “smart material” which can form a thermo-responsive hydrogel. With a transition temperature in the 30’s and below body temperature, it has seen significant interest in the field of bioengineering. Potential applications are artificial muscles, wound dressings, engineered tissues and drug delivery.
This chromatogram shows poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) or PNIPAm. It is a promising copolymer candidate for controlled drug release in polymer-drug conjugates.
| Solvent | 0.02 M LiBr DMF |
| Flow Rate [mL/min] | 1.00 |
| Column Set | I-MBHMW-3078 + I-MBLMW-3078 |
| Column Temp (°C) | 60.0 |
| Injection volume μL | 100.0 |
| Concentration [mg/mL] | 5.80 |
| Mw Weight Average [Da] | 124,361 |
| Sample dn/dc [mL/g] | 0.071 |
| Sample IV [dL/g] | 0.358 |
PNIPAM -Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) is a unique temperature-responsive polymer that has been successfully used for drug delivery. Due to its high polarity, it is a very challenging organic material to properly characterize by GPC. The solvent used for this sample was Dimethylformamide (DMF). Data were acquired with the Viscotek TDAmax system.
The 90º (RALS) and the 7º (LALS) light scattering data are clean despite a relatively low dn/dc.
Related application note: Zetasizer data from PNIPAM coated silica spheres.
Previously
- Where can I find dn/dc?
- Top 10 Practical Tips for GPC sample preparation
- 5 Steps to improve SEC-LS data