Premium
Light Scattering Studies on Ternary Polymer Blend Solutions Comprising Poly(hydroxybutyrate)
Author(s) -
Chee Melinda J. K.,
Kummerlöwe Claudia,
Lechner Manfred D.,
Kammer HansWerner
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.200300215
Subject(s) - miscibility , molecular mass , polymer , polymer blend , polymer chemistry , virial coefficient , materials science , ethylene oxide , chemical engineering , ternary operation , intrinsic viscosity , copolymer , chemistry , thermodynamics , organic chemistry , composite material , programming language , physics , computer science , engineering , enzyme
Abstract Summary: We report on light scattering studies of polymer blend solutions in trifluoroethanol (TFE). The polymer blends comprised poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) in combination with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly( ε ‐caprolactone) (PCL). PHBs of two different molecular masses were used. Relevant quantities were obtained from Zimm plots. All quantities display non‐linear dependencies on blend composition. For the blend system with PEO and PHB of lower molecular mass, we observed a negative excess of the second virial coefficient, which is indicative of the miscibility of the constituents. The opposite is observed for blends with PCL. The situation changes in blends with PEO and PHB of sufficiently high molecular mass. It turns out that PEO is only miscible with PHB of high molecular mass if it is the major component. This can be concluded from both light scattering and viscosity results.Apparent molecular mass as a function of blend composition for PEO/PHB(1) and PCL/PHB(1) solutions in TFE at 25 °C.