Characterization of copolymers of Pluronic RPE type by mass spectrometry

Abstract

Pluronic RPE Copolymers are triblock copolymers with the PO-EO-PO structure. The chemical properties which characterize this copolymer series were investigated by mass spectrometry particularly using the MALDI-TOF instrument. This work elucidates the various steps to follow for the analysis of this copolymer series. However, some discrepancies were observed which when evaluated, agreed with the literature data of the copolymer series to a certain extent. The Mass Remainder Analysis used for evaluation of collected data helps in the correction of overlapping peaks, which is typical of this series, correct errors hence achieving accuracy.