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A stepwise scheme for the calculation of molecular weight distribution in condensation polymers. I. Scheme for monomolecular condensation polymers
Author(s) -
Tung L. H.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1993.070490803
Subject(s) - condensation , polymer , condensation polymer , monomer , reactivity (psychology) , polymer chemistry , polymerization , molar mass distribution , solubility , molecule , chemistry , thermodynamics , materials science , computational chemistry , organic chemistry , physics , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
A stepwise scheme has been devised for the calculation of molecular weight distribution in condensation polymers prepared under the condition of unequal reactivity. In the scheme, a condensation polymerization is arbitrarily subdivided into a number of steps. The polymer obtained in one step is treated as the monomer for the next step. In each of the steps, Flory's distribution for the condensation polymer under equal reactivity is used as the molecular weight distribution for that step. Reactivity variances are incorporated into the calculation through the application of weighing factors on the concentrations of the reacting molecules in each of the steps. The distributions of polymers prepared under other unusual conditions, such as monomers with only limited solubility or endcapping at late stages of the condensation reaction, can also be conveniently calculated by this scheme. The treatment presented in this paper is devoted only to polymers prepared by monomolecular condensation. Extension to bimolecular condensation will not be trivial and will be the subject of another paper. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.