Size exclusion chromatography of polyelectrolytes with aqueous elution solvents

Size exclusion chromatography (=SEC) is a widly used method for determining the molecular weight distribution of polymer samples. But using aqueous elution solvents, this method is even today combined with numerous problems, mostly caused by the polyelectrolyte structure of water soluble polymers. Therefore we will firstly give a survey of this special features and discuss preventive measures. From this view then some working rules will be derived with special regard to the devices, columns and calibration standards available today. Finally we will give some remarks about the specific experimental conditions for ultrahigh molecular weight samples.