PSS polymer standards service

What PSS polymer standards service does

PSS Polymer Standards Service, founded in 1985 and headquartered in Mainz, Germany, is a specialized provider of GPC/SEC (Gel Permeation Chromatography / Size Exclusion Chromatography) solutions for macromolecular characterization. The company's core offerings are high-precision polymer reference standards used for calibration of molecular weight distributions, and specialized GPC/SEC chromatography columns engineered for size-based separation of polymer molecules by hydrodynamic radius. PSS serves research institutions and industrial laboratories performing polymer characterization across both aqueous and organic solvent systems and from ambient to high-temperature analyses.

The company's technical differentiation lies in the accuracy and precision of its polymer reference standards and column chemistry, accumulated over four decades of specialization in macromolecular chromatography. As a standalone entity, PSS operated as a small, focused firm (11–50 employees). Following its acquisition by Agilent Technologies, PSS now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary and brand under Agilent's InfinityLab GPC/SEC Solutions portfolio, which bundles instruments (such as the 1260 Infinity II Bio-SEC, 1260 Infinity II Multidetector GPC/SEC, and 1290 Infinity II GPC/SEC systems), columns, standards, software (WinGPC and OpenLab CDS), and analytical services.

The business model is a consumables-and-specialty-hardware model. Polymer reference standards and GPC/SEC columns are repeat-purchase items sold to laboratories globally. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Following the Agilent acquisition, PSS products are marketed and distributed through Agilent's corporate website, product brochures, technical documentation, direct sales, online store, and channel partner network, transforming what was a specialist direct-sales operation into an embedded offering within a global analytical instruments platform.

Name

PSS polymer standards service

Website

https://pss-polymer.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PSS Polymer Standards Service supplies polymer reference standards and GPC/SEC chromatography columns for macromolecular characterization. Founded 1985 in Mainz, Germany, and now operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Agilent Technologies within its InfinityLab GPC/SEC Solutions portfolio.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Polymer Characterization Consumables

NAICS

Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Miscellaneous Chemical Products (2890)

akta.pro primary industry

Analytical Instruments & Chromatography Systems (HLAGAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

High-Performance & Specialty Polymers (PPS, LCP, PI/PAI, PAEK) (IMAEANAI)

Keywords

• Polymer reference standards
• GPC/SEC columns
• Macromolecular characterization
• Molecular weight determination
• Size exclusion chromatography

Headquarters

HQ city

Mainz

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

PSS Polymer Standards Service manufactures and supplies high-precision polymer reference standards and specialized GPC/SEC (Gel Permeation Chromatography / Size Exclusion Chromatography) columns used to calibrate chromatographic systems and determine molecular weight distributions and chain lengths of polymers. Following acquisition by Agilent Technologies, the PSS product line is integrated into Agilent's InfinityLab GPC/SEC Solutions portfolio for ambient and high-temperature, aqueous and organic macromolecular analyses.

Product overview

PSS (Polymer Standards Service) is an acquired brand now part of Agilent's InfinityLab GPC/SEC Solutions portfolio. PSS provides polymer reference standards and calibration materials for macromolecular characterization. These products are integrated into Agilent's complete GPC/SEC workflow, which includes systems (such as the 1260 Infinity II Bio-SEC System, 1260 Infinity II Multidetector GPC/SEC System, and 1290 Infinity II GPC/SEC System), software (WinGPC Software and GPC/SEC Software for OpenLab CDS), columns and standards, and expert analytical services. The PSS products expand Agilent's portfolio to offer the largest single-vendor solution for GPC/SEC analyses, from ambient to high-temperature and aqueous to organic applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PSS Polymer Reference Standards High-precision polymer reference standards used for calibration in GPC/SEC analyses to determine molecular weight distributions and chain lengths of polymers; intended for research and industrial polymer laboratories.
• PSS GPC/SEC Columns Specialized chromatography columns designed for size-exclusion separation of polymer molecules based on hydrodynamic radius, used by polymer researchers and industrial QC laboratories performing macromolecular characterization.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Agilent TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSS Polymer Standards Service was acquired by Agilent Technologies. The acquisition expanded Agilent's GPC/SEC portfolio, creating what Agilent describes as the largest single-vendor solution for all GPC/SEC analyses. PSS products are now fully integrated into Agilent's InfinityLab GPC/SEC Solutions portfolio, covering instruments, columns, standards, and software.

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Malvern Panalytical: Malvern Panalytical (a Spectris company) supplies polymer-characterization instrumentation including GPC/SEC and light-scattering systems. It competes with the Agilent-PSS combination in polymer molecular-weight and particle characterization workflows.
• Shimadzu: Shimadzu offers liquid chromatography systems and columns, including GPC/SEC configurations, serving industrial and academic polymer-analysis labs that also purchase PSS standards and columns through Agilent.
• Waters Corporation: Waters is a major chromatography and GPC/SEC instrument vendor that competes broadly with Agilent's (and now PSS's) bundled workflow offering, supplying systems, columns, and software to the same polymer and biopolymer laboratories.
• Agilent Technologies: Agilent is PSS's parent company and the broader chromatography-instrument platform into which PSS products are integrated. It is the most directly comparable broad incumbent competing with Waters, Shimadzu, and Thermo Fisher in GPC/SEC workflows.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Thermo Fisher provides chromatography instruments, columns, and consumables across a broad portfolio. Its chromatography offerings overlap with the Agilent-PSS workflow at large analytical laboratories and pharmaceutical QA/QC sites.

Others

• Phenomenex: Phenomenex (a Danaher company) manufactures chromatography columns and consumables that are occasionally used for size-based polymer separations, making it an adjacent column-supplying peer in the chromatography ecosystem where PSS columns compete.
• Danaher Corporation: Danaher owns chromatography and life-science instrument brands (including Phenomenex, Cytiva, Beckman Coulter) that compete with the Agilent-PSS portfolio in adjacent analytical workflows serving polymer and biopharma laboratories.

Direct peers

• Wyatt Technology: Wyatt Technology supplies multi-angle light-scattering and other detectors used in conjunction with GPC/SEC for absolute molecular-weight characterization. Its instruments are commonly deployed alongside the columns and standards PSS provides.
• Tosoh Bioscience: Tosoh Bioscience manufactures GPC/SEC columns and polymer standards for macromolecular characterization, directly overlapping with PSS's core product line of reference standards and size-exclusion columns for molecular-weight determination.
• PolymerChar: PolymerChar specializes in instrumentation for polymer characterization, including GPC/SEC systems and detectors, and serves the same polymer-research and industrial-laboratory customer base that PSS targets with its standards and columns.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pss-polymer-standards-service-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PSS polymer standards service