Identification and distribution analysis of additives in a molded NBR by PY/GCxGC/HRTOFMS
Introduction
The characteristics of polymeric materials vary depending on the additives. Consequently, a variety of additives can be added into the raw polymer resin in order to achieve the required characteristics for the product. PY/GC/MS is often used as an analytical method for the analysis of polymeric materials. However, PY/GC/MS is often insufficient for the chromatographic separation of additives and thermal decomposition products from the polymer. As a result, it is often difficult to assign compound identities.
On the other hand, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC/HRTOFMS) is a well-known technique that provides high chromatographic separation by using two different polarity GC columns. Additionally, when this technique is used with high resolution mass measurements, it can be a powerful tool for estimating elemental compositions of analytes found within a complex mixture.
In this application note, the additives were identified within a commercially available molded polymer by using pyrolysis (PY)/GCxGC/HRTOFMS.