Advanced Polymer Chromatography

ACQUITY APC™ Columns deliver advanced sorbent technology for separating complex synthetic polymer and macromolecular species. They deliver superior performance and reliability for high resolution polymer characterization compared to conventional GPC columns. ACQUITY APC Columns improve advanced polymer chromatography by:

• Improving Bed Stability. ACQUITY APC Columns eliminate the shrinking and swelling that often occurs with polymeric stationary phases upon solvent switching.
• Maximizing Efficiency. The optimized pore volumes and particle sizes provide unmatched separation speed, resolution and chromatographic efficiency.
• Providing Industry Leading Reproducibility. Each step of our column manufacturing process is tightly controlled to deliver exceptional product reliability.

Rapid Solvent Switching

The rigid hybrid particles used in ACQUITY APC Chromatography Columns provide unprecedented capacity for rapid solvent switching, making it possible to use multiple conditions for the same column bank. Conventional polymeric phases are often dedicated to single analysis conditions because the chromatographic bed is vulnerable to shrinking and swelling that can be potentially harmful to the column. By eliminating this constraint, ACQUITY APC Chromatography Columns provide more freedom for method development and deliver advanced polymer characterization for a diverse range of samples.

Superior Separation Performance

ACQUITY APC Columns are designed for polymer scientists who require high resolution polymer characterization and column efficiency. ACQUITY APC Columns introduce new capabilities for chromatographic efficiency, speed and resolution that cannot be matched by conventional methods. They provide the ability to quantify and characterize polymers samples with confidence and accuracy while maximizing productivity.

For over 50 years, Waters has been the market leader in GPC and SEC analysis, providing the highest quality columns and applications support for both organic- and aqueous-based size separations. Refinements in packing materials and technology have allowed industry scientists to expand the original GPC/SEC polymer separations to include applications for separating small and large molecules from interfering matrices, such as those found in foods, pharmaceutical preparations, and natural products.

Waters leading GPC/SEC brands include:

• Styragel^® Columns for polymer characterization
• Envirogel™ Columns for high-resolution GPC cleanup
• Shodex^® Columns for polymer characterization
• HSPgel™ Columns for high speed GPC analysis
• HSPgel AQ Columns for high speed SEC analysis
• Ultrahydrogel™ Columns for SEC
• Ultrastyragel™ Columns for polymer characterization

Columns designed for reliable nano, capillary, and microscale UPLC separations

Waters nano columns offer purposefully-designed hardware to meet the different demands of today's nanoflow LC and LC-MS separations. The UPLC Column delivers superior chromatographic resolution and fully leverages the separation power of small sub-2-µm particles.

The selected stationary phases for nano-LC and trapping columns provide an advantage developing fast and efficient separations for complex peptide and protein separations and other sample limited analyses.

• ACQUITY UPLC M-Class Columns (rated for 15,000 psi [1,000 bar]) allow for faster separations and are compatible with the nanoACQUITY UPLC system.
• The iKey Separation Device is an enabling technology behind the ionKey/MS System. It eliminates the need for traditional fittings and greatly simplifies the microflow-LC user experience.

SFC Column Technology for Chiral and Achiral Separations

Waters offers three unique brands for SFC chromatography. Our newest addition includes Torus Columns in preparative formats due its excellent performance for a wide range of compounds and matrices. Our Torus and Viridis lines for achiral SFC applications are available in analytical and preparative particle sizes ranging from 1.7 µm to 5 µm. The preparative format utilizes our patented OBD Technology to ensure ease of scale-up as well as column-to-column consistency. Trefoil Columns, for chiral SFC chromatography, are uniquely designed for the ACQUITY UPC² System for selectivity and speed in separations as well as reduced method development time.

The Solid Phase Monitor (SPM20) solubility system is an important tool for observing phase behavior and solubility of materials under high pressure conditions.

The equipment features a variable volume viewcell body with a piston. The system is rated up to 689* bar (10,000 psi) and 1500 C. The high-pressure motor driven stirrer allows the user to achieve high stirring rates in the viewcell. The viewcell body also incorporates a pressure transducer, thermocouple, rupture disc assembly and process ports. The CCD camera and illumination source with two sapphire windows mounted 900 apart in the body provide the capability to view inside the viewcell. The viewcell body is uniformly heated using embedded heaters for temperature control.

System package includes:

• Phase monitor with pressure and temperature sensors, swivel stand, CCD camera, light source, rupture disc assembly (400 bar, 6,000 psi), temperature display & control, digital pressure display, inlet and outlet 1/16” valves and TV/VCR combo.
• Video overlay kit (VOK) allows the user to process pressure and temperature conditions using a processing module and overlay on video image for display and recording on TV/VCR combo.
• Stirrer kit includes high-pressure motor driven stirrer with impeller and speed controller.

We do not supply TV/VCR combo for PAL or 220V systems.

Applications include:

• Observing liquid-liquid, liquid-gas miscibility under pressure and temperature
• Solubility conditions for compound of interest with solvents or carbon dioxide or mixtures for Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) or Pressurized Solvent Extractions
• Swelling of polymers with gases
• Solubility of natural product mixtures in carbon dioxide and solvents.
• Dissolution, precipitation, and cloud points
• Solvents and CO₂ phase behavior
• Extraction optimization
• Chromatography optimization
• Solubility studies for particle design
• Reaction conditions

Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (RESS)

SuperParticle RESS Systems are versatile, skid-mounted, PC-controlled systems capable of producing micron-size powders of thermally labile materials. The RESS process incorporates carbon dioxide as a solvent, which reduces processing costs, is non-toxic, and leaves no residue.

Non–polar materials can be dissolved in supercritical carbon dioxide and sprayed, as in spray drying. This technique is called RESS. RESS Systems allow researchers to mix carbon dioxide with their samples in a high-pressure, agitated vessel. This allows non-polar compounds to be sprayed through a nozzle from a supercritical solution. By manipulating the pressure, temperature and concentration, the user can manipulate powder sizes.This non-polar misture is then sprayed through a heated sapphire nozzle assembly.

RESS Systems are appropriate for pharmaceutical applications, including:

• Asthma medicine
• Steroids
• Controlled release drugs
• Contiguous coatings
• Sub-micrometer particles
• Thin films
• Fine polymer fibers
• Microparticle coatings

SuperReactor and Reactor Systems are designed and fabricated for researchers who are interested in investigating chemical reactions, or performing process studies under elevated temperatures and pressures.

Features of this compact system can include sapphire windows for direct or video camera viewing, magnetically coupled stirring, and process ports located in the body and cover assembly. Using Waters’ process controller, researchers can control heating, display pressure, temperature, alarms, and data log process conditions to their PCs. Users can also choose a reactor configuration ranging from a base reactor, to one with windows, to a complete package with a process controller and liquid pumps.

Options can also be added, as the users’ needs change, providing maximum flexibility.

Applications:

• Catalysis
• Polymerization
• Oxidation

Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) Systems

Waters' Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) Systems extract chemical compounds using supercritical carbon dioxide instead of an organic solvent. The supercritical fluid state occurs when a fluid is above its critical temperature (Tc) and critical pressure (Pc), when it is between the typical gas and liquid state. Manipulating the temperature and pressure of the fluid can solubilize the material of interest and selectively extract it. The sample is placed in an extraction vessel and pressurized with CO₂ to dissolve the sample. Transferred to a fraction collector, the contents are depressurized and the CO₂ loses its solvating power causing the desired material to precipitate. The condensed CO₂ can be recycled.

SFE applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and fine chemical industries:

• Decaffeinating of coffee and tea
• Extraction of essential oils (vegetable and fish oils)
• Extraction of flavors from natural resources (nutraceuticals)
• Extraction of ingredients from spices and red peppers
• Extraction of fat from food products
• Fractionation of polymeric materials
• Extraction from natural products
• Photo–resist cleaning
• Precision part cleaning