I made a polyurethane through condensation polymerization and I would like to make sure the repeating unit structure through MALDI. However, when I submitted the sample to the staff in the MS, they couldn't generate the good spectrum for me. Theoretically, I knew the MW of the polymer was 9000 by GPC, but the signal only started to show below 4000. So could I know the normal condition to take the MALDI for the polyurethane polymer such as the matrix used.
You might consider the graphite method, first published by Dr. Phillip Price (then in Dow Chemical) who reported it first. Basically, you would make a dilute solution of your polymer, and then coat it onto graphite. The graphite will heat up due to laser pulses, and local polymer chains will get desorbed into the air. This is a really nice way to prepare MALDI samples, without having to use various matrices. I have the link of the paper I got to co-author with Dr. Price back in 2013.
Article Characterization of polyurethane hard segment length distrib...
Hello,
The ion abundance of polymers in MALDI analyses depends strongly on sample preparation
protocols, which lead to different sample
morphologies and microenvironment after crystallization. How are you depositing your matrix? Have you considered an automated device (I would recommend the HTX TM-Sprayer which is the only instrument that provides temperature regulation). It was the device used to obtain the results in the attached poster.
-Sloane
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