Light scattering (LS) is one of the most common techniques for polymer characterization. The LS intensity and its angular dissymmetry are the two experimental results that give the polymer molecular weight (MW) and molecular size (radius-of-gyration Rg) information respectively. When a multi-angle LS detector is coupled with a size exclusion chromatograph (SEC), the combined instrument has the potential of determining the absolute MW and Rg distribution of polymers. In general, the existing LS instruments have been expensive, bulky, and lack precision. We plan to test a new concept for a high precision LS instrument that is small, simple and inexpensive. We will incorporate a multi-wavelength feature into our right angle laser LS (RALLS) technology. The combination of a multi-wavelength RALLS detector with SEC would be a very powerful polymer characterization technique. This new approach can provide the needed accuracy and precision in the MW and Rg determinations for solving industrial problems that may relate to polymer size and shape changes, chain branching, copolymer composition, or biopolymer conformational and architectural differences.
