Liquid Chromatography of Synthetic Polymers: Entropy/Enthalpy Compensation and Critical Conditions

Dr. Muhammad Imran Malik graduated from Karl-Franzens-Universitäte Graz, Austria, in polymer chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Bernd Trathnigg in 2009. Later, he worked in the research groups of Prof. Harald Pasch, University of Stellenbosch South Africa (2010–2011), and Prof. Taihyun Chang, POSTECH South Korea (2015), as a post-doctoral research scientist. The research focus of Dr. Malik in all above-mentioned positions was analytical polymer science. In 2012, he joined the International Center of Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, as an assistant professor. The major research interest of Dr. Malik is synthesis of novel polymeric architecture and development of comprehensive analytical methods for polymers. His research interests extend to polymer stabilized nanoparticles and their applications, such as sensors, drug delivery, molecularly imprinted polymers, and organic solar cells. Dr. Malik has authored/co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, six chapters in edited books, and one authored book entitled “Advanced Separation Techniques for Polyolefins” along with one edited book entitled “Molecular Characterization of Polymers”. Dr. Malik also has one US and one Pakistan patent to his credit while three more are filed. Currently, Dr. Malik is an associate professor at the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi.

Dr. Dusan Berek graduated from Polymer Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, where he spent his entire professional career. He was not allowed to leave Slovakia for a postdoctoral stay abroad. His studies concentrated on methods for liquid chromatography—separation of synthetic polymers, synthesis of column packings and role of enthalpic interactions in the separation process. He was able to defend his D.Sc. (Research Professor) Thesis in the Slovak Technical University, but only after the political change in the country in 1989. He has supervised 15 Ph.D. students, three of them from abroad.

He was elected the scientist of year of Slovakia in 1999 for a set of published studies, Innovator of Slovakia 2001 for a patent licensed to a Swedish company and Academician of the Slovak Scientific Society in 2004. He has been active in Polymer Division of IUPAC, former European Chemical Federation, Slovak Chemical Society (president for two terms of office) and Central European Group of separation Sciences. He acted as the chairman of Czechoslovak and later of Slovak National Committee for IUPAC for 15 years.

Dr. Berek has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications (over 30 as a single author), which were so far quoted over 3,500 times, seven chapters in edited books, and he himself edited two books. He is an author or a co-author of over 60 patents, six of them were licensed to companies. Unfortunately, Dusan Berek passed on June 28, 2022 in Ljubljana, Slovakia, while he was there for a lecture in a conference.