Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.55, No.5, 773-778, 1995
Strategies for Supercritical CO2 Fractionation of Polydimethylsiloxane
The fractionation of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using supercritical CO2 was studied to determine the parameters of pressure and temperature required to separate specific molecular weights. On a laboratory scale, we show that this fractionation method can quickly provide gram quantities of the polymer with a polydispersity of around 1.2 for molecular weights in excess of 200 kg/mol. This technique has obvious applications in the preparation of PDMS for surface-related uses.