The identification and quantification of a high molecular weight light stabilizer in polycarbonate by application of an online coupling of size exclusion chromatography in stopped flow mode with pyrolysis gas chromatography time of flight mass spectroscopy.

The identification and quantification of a high molecular weight light stabilizer (Uvinul 3030™) in an unknown polycarbonate sample was achieved through the application of SEC-Py-TOF-GCMS. A size exclusion column optimized to achieve resolution in the lower mass range was applied to allow the fractionation of an individual additive peak. A commercially available sampling interface was operated in stop flow mode and fractions were pyrolyzed to allow chromatographic separation of the fragments of the otherwise non-volatile stabilizer. After identification on the basis of accurate mass and elemental composition of the additive the quantification was compared using the available SEC-UV and SEC-PY-GC-TOFMS data. The resulting method provided a high degree of certainty in identification and flexibility in quantification expected to be applicable to other additives of similar volatilities or functional class.