Analysis of additives in plastics by high-performance size-exclusion chromatography

Abstract The application of high-performance size-exclusion chromatography is described for the analysis, in plastics, of low-molecular-weight additives and their decomposition products. The limitation on maximum attainable sensitivity of the method due to sample size has been established by an examination of the relationship between column loading and resolution for a simple additive-polymer mixture. The effects of sample volume and concentration are described in terms of peak broadening, and the results are discussed in relation to mechanisms of solute dispersal. The advantages of this type of approach over other techniques for the analysis of nonvolatile yet unstable components of plastics are discussed, and the use of the method is illustrated with examples of studies of the fates of phosphite and epoxidised oil stabilisers in heat-treated poly(vinyl chloride) sheets.