GPC Chromatography
GPC chromatography (gel permeation chromatography) is a widely used high performance liquid chromatography technique for molecular weight determination of biopolymers. GPC chromatography is also known as size exclusion chromatography (SEC).
In GPC chromatography biopolymers are separated according to their molecular size relative to the pore size in the packing material of the GPC chromatography column. The solvent used in GPC chromatography may be either aqueous or organic depending on the properties of the specific polymers.
GPC Standards for Calibration
Prior to GPC chromatography of a biopolymer, the columns are calibrated with a set of well-characterized GPC standards.
The calibration curve is obtained by proper curve fitting against the experimental observations for the GPC standards of known molecular weight distribution. The calibration curve provides the tool to analyze the molecular weight distribution of the biopolymers.
Based on the GPC standards calibration data, it is possible to determine the peak average molecular weight, Mp, number average molecular weight, Mn, weight average molecular weight, Mw, and the polydispersity, D, of a given biopolymer sample within a given level of accuracy.
Pharmacosmos supplies Dextran GPC standards for calibration of aqueous CPG chromatography columns. Please visit Pharmacosmos' Dextran website for additional information about our GPC Standards.