A relationship between hydrodynamic and static properties of star-shaped polymers

Abstract Some star-shaped polystyrenes were synthesized by two different methods—“arm-first” and “in–in”. The intrinsic viscosity, real molecular weight and apparent molecular weight of these samples were characterized by dilute solution viscometry, light scattering and size exclusion chromatography based on universal calibration curve approach, respectively. The results show a good correlation among various molecular weights that were extracted via different characterization techniques. Since this correlation is independent of the shape of the macromolecule and is directly related to the hydrodynamic volume of the solutes, therefore it seems applicable to other branched shape polymers.