The magnitude of the interactions between two phases may be deduced from results collected by various experimental techniques. One of them is Inverse Gas Chromatography (IGC). IGC is an extension of conventional gas chromatography in which a non-volatile material to be investigated is immobilized on a column. Parameters determined during IGC experiments may be successfully used in the characterization of polymers and their blends, composites and fillers as well as other materials, quantification of the interactions between the components of a polymer's mixture including the interactions between polymeric components and filler surface. Authors propose to express the magnitude of filler–polymer interactions by using the modified procedure of the determination of Flory–Huggins χ ₂₃ ^′ parameter. It was calculated from retention data of test solutes collected during inverse gas chromatographic experiments. Here, this method was applied for characterization of a series of poly(ethylene glycol) 10,000 (PEG) and poly(L-lactide) (PLA) (59,000) compositions with Aerosil® 200 V (AR_200). The usefulness of some methods to eliminate dependence of χ ₂₃ ^′ on the type of test solute was examined and discussed.

This paper presents migration tests of environmental and production contaminants, migrating from food contact materials (FCMs) into Tenax. Migration tests were conducted under two time and temperature conditions (2 h, 70 °C, 10 days, 40 °C). Various chromatographic methods (GC/FID, GC/ECD, GC/MS, HPLC/DAD) were used to identify and quantify the migrants. The specific surface area and pore distribution of Tenax and food samples were also characterized. Plant-based FCMs do not pose a risk of phenanthrene and anthracene migration into Tenax. In turn, carbonyl compounds can migrate after short and long contact between the FCMs and food simulant. However, aldehydes may degrade with prolonged contact of food with FCMs. In addition, BPA, BPS, benzophenone derivatives and phthalates may migrate from the FCMs into Tenax. Moreover, some contaminants can migrate at concentrations above the specific migration limits (e.g. BPA). The intensity of migration process may depend on the structure of the molecule and the size of the substituents.

Authors obtained hybrid organic–inorganic materials applied in sustained drug delivery. The materials are ibuprofen as a model drug, hydroxyapatite and three different polymers as supports. Influence of the type of employed polymer, an inorganic carrier, on the properties and drug release profiles was estimated. Flory–Huggins interaction parameters, the dispersive component of surface free energy and acid-base characteristic of the surface were used to assess the behavior of the composites in terms of drug release. The experiments were carried out with the use of inverse gas chromatography (IGC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet (UV) techniques. FTIR and ATR-FTIR spectra were collected. The values of parameter obtained for all investigated materials (excluding poly(L-lactide) (PLA2)) indicate low or medium activity. The strongest interactions (the lowest values of the Flory–Huggins parameter) are observed for PLA2 composition, while the weakest interactions for systems with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Finally, drug release profiles are shown. For materials prepared with Eudragit® (EUD) and PLA, the release of drug was much smaller, which corresponds to lower values of Flory–Huggins parameter. The executed experiments allowed the estimation of the properties of prepared composites. Prepared materials present properties required in sustained drug release and may be successfully applied as drug delivery systems.