Liquid chromatography of polymers is traditionally a slow technique with analysis times of typically 30 min per sample. For the application of liquid chromatographic techniques to combinatorial materials research the analysis time per sample must be reduced considerably. Analysis time in SEC can be reduced to about 2 min per sample when high‐throughput columns are used. For HPLC small columns with improved separation efficiencies can be used. As compared to conventional technology, time savings of more than 80% are achieved.
Chromatogram from conventional SEC column compared to high‐speed SEC column tested on an identical instrument with polystyrene standards in THF.