Gel permeation / exclusion chromatography (GPC/SEC)

Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) is a type of size exclusion chromatography (SEC), that separates analytes on the basis of size.

Gel Permeation Chromatography is an analytical technique that separates dissolved macromolecules by size based on their elution from columns filled with a porous gel. When Gel Permeation Chromatography is coupled with light scattering, viscometer and concentration detectors (known as triple detection), it can measure absolute molecular weight, molecular size and intrinsic viscosity, and generate information on macromolecular structure, conformation, aggregation and branching.

GPC/SEC has two main uses – to characterize polymers and separate mixtures into discrete fractions, such as polymer, oligomer, monomer and any non-polymeric additives. GPC/SEC is the only technique available to characterize the molecular weight distribution of polymers, a property all synthetic polymers have.