Characterizing the size, shape, and compactness of a polydisperse prolate ellipsoidal particle via quadruple-detector hydrodynamic chromatography.

A detailed quantitative description of particle size, shape, and their distributions is essential for understanding and optimization of the solid-, solution-, and melt-state properties of materials. Here, we employ quadruple-detector hydrodynamic chromatography (HDC) with multi-angle static light scattering, quasi-elastic light scattering, differential viscometry, and differential refractometry detection as a method for characterizing three important physical properties of materials, namely the molar mass, size, and shape of a polydisperse, non-spherical colloidal silica sample. These properties and their distributions were measured continuously across the HDC elution profile of the sample. By combining information from the various parameters determined, we were also able to obtain quantitative knowledge regarding the compactness or denseness of the sample. The applicability of multi-detector HDC to characterize polydisperse, non-spherical analytes was shown to be rapid, accurate, and precise. An advantage over traditional characterization methods is the ability of multi-detector HDC to determine particle size, shape, compactness, and their distributions simultaneously in a single analysis.