Green Solvent Alternatives
The “greenest solution” is certainly no solvent but GPC/SEC as a liquid chromatography technique requires the use of a mobile phase. The growing awareness of the need for more sustainable (greener) solutions has focused attention on environmentally and health friendly solvents and solutions. Besides approaches for solvent reduction the chemical industry is also investigating complete substitution of the solvent.
PSS specifically developed a program to investigate ‘greener’ alternatives with respect to their potential to replace organic mobile phases.
Alternatives are examined in detail under the following aspects:
- Is the alternative compatible with typical stationary GPC/SEC phases?
- Can the mobile phase be used under sustainable conditions (e.g. pressure, temperature)?
- Are soluble calibration standards available? Do they elute in GPC/SEC mode and can they be used to establish a reliable calibration?
- Are suitable detection methods available?
This page will be always updated with our latest findungs and results.
Please contact us if you need support in finding out about the applicability of mobile phases you intend to use.
Typical organic GPC/SEC solvents and potential ‘greener’ alternatives
| Mobile phase | Potential less harmful alternative | Applicable stationary phase | Applicable reference materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMF/DMAc | DMSO (Dimethylsulfoxide) | PSS GRAM | Pullulane, PMMA |
| THF | 2-Methyl-THF | PSS SDV | PS, PMMA |
| THF/Toluene/DCM/TCM | Ethyl acetate | PSS SDV | PMMA, other (Meth)acrylates, PDMS |
| Pentane/Hexane | Heptane | PSS SDV | PIB |
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