We are chemists and computer scientists who are experienced in polymers, material characterization and computing. Because polymers and materials are viscous, their analysis by conventional methods are beset by technical difficulties. Given this limitation, we recognized the need for a versatile, accurate, affordable and speedy method to fill the gap in the marketplace.
Research has shown that gas chromatography can be used for the analysis of viscous polymers and materials if it is used in a non-traditional way by studying the column, as opposed to the mixture that is injected into the column. Polymers and materials can be coated on a solid support and packed in a chromatographic column, or coated onto a capillary column, and then evaluated using a thermodynamic analysis. This technique is called “Inverse Gas Chromatography” (IGC). Today, the IGC method is used by chemical, pharmaceuticals, paint industries and academia to explore a variety of physico-chemical properties of polymers and materials.
The thermodynamics of IGC uses physical and critical data cited in the literature, as well as over twenty equations and empirical algorithms to yield chromatographic and thermodynamic quantities. We developed the POLYSIS software package to give researchers and companies an intuitive software platform that uses gas chromatography results and empirical algorithms to determine these parameters quickly and inexpensively. Thermodynamic quantities can be further analyzed to obtain a wealth of properties on polymers and materials, as described in the About POLYSIS section of this website.
