DEFORMATION OF MACROMOLECULES DURING ANALYSIS BY HYDRODYNAMIC CHROMATOGRAPHY.

Hydrodynamic Chromatography (HDC) can be used to obtain separations of high molecular weight water-soluble polymers based on size. The separation occurs as polymers of different hydrodynamic volume sample different portions of a nonuniform velocity field; the field is generated by flow through a packed bed of impenetrable spheres. During HDC analysis, polymer solutes experience extension rates as high as 700 s** minus **1. The effect of the extensional strain on polymer conformation and orientation during separation is investigated.