Our MRSEC Shared Facilities house two state-of-the-art chromatography platforms that are enabling new insights into active soft matter systems:
Waters UPLC H-Class Plus Binary System
This ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) system provides high-resolution separation of complex mixtures with exceptional speed and sensitivity. It is a key tool for characterizing small molecule fuels, reaction byproducts, and other components in dissipative systems, allowing researchers to probe the chemical dynamics that drive non-equilibrium self-assembly.
Waters Advanced Polymer Chromatography (APC) System
Designed for high-throughput and high-resolution analysis of synthetic polymers, the APC system delivers rapid molecular weight distribution measurements essential for understanding polymer architecture and its role in emergent soft material behavior. It has been particularly impactful for studies of polymer-based and peptide-based coacervates and assemblies.
Together, these systems provide critical molecular-level insight into the design, function, and transformation of active soft materials, advancing the MRSEC’s broader mission to engineer adaptive and life-like materials.
Journal of the American Chemical Society 2023, 145 (3), 1811-1817, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2023, 145 (6), 3727-3735.