Branching Analysis of Synthetic Rubbers: Polybutadiene and a Butadiene-Styrene Copolymer

The principal synthetic rubber elastomer is a copolymer of butadiene and styrene. The latex form of rubber and synthetic elastomers has applications in carpet and gloves, and coagulated latex is used for the production of tires and mechanical goods. It is of critical importance to know the absolute molar mass and its distribution, as well as to gain insight into the conformation of synthetic rubber—which are indicative of the product’s end-use performance. Typically, polystyrene standards are used to estimate the molar masses of these polymers in SEC experiments, but by using a DAWN^® or miniDAWN^® multi-angle light scattering (MALS) detector, standards and column calibration are no longer needed.