Influence of the carrier composition on thermal field-flow fractionation for the characterisation of sub-micron polystyrene latex particles

A study on the influence of the carrier composition in a ThFFF system on th e retention and thermal diffusion of sub-micron polystyrene latex particles has been carried out. Various factors that may influence retention were st udied. These include: the type of electrolyte and surfactant, their respect ive concentrations, and the addition of an organic modifier. Particle reten tion is highly sensitive to small changes in the carrier composition. It is demonstrated that under the conditions applied, secondary effects, such as particle-wall and particle-particle interactions, are negligible. Addition of surfactants is required to minimise particle-wall interactions. General ly, retention increases at higher electrolyte concentration. Furthermore, t he addition of acetonitrile (ACN) to an aqueous carrier leads also to an in creased retention. The type of surfactant as well as its concentration is o f influence on the retention time. The three surfactants that were studied, i.e., sodium dodecyl sulfate, Brij 35 and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, showed significant differences in particle retention behaviour. The observe d differences in retention in the carriers can be attributed to actual chan ges in thermal diffusion. D-T appears to be mainly determined by the intera ction between the particle's surface and the carrier liquid, and is therefo re highly sensitive to changes in the chemical composition of the particle surface and the carrier. Strong differences in size selectivity were found for different carrier compositions. This allows a relatively easy optimisat ion of the separation. On the other hand, it complicates the size and compo sition analysis of particles. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res erved.