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Swelling Behaviour of Isotropic Poly( n ‐butyl acrylate) Networks in Isotropic and Anisotropic Solvents
Author(s) -
Youcef Boumédiène Dali,
Bouchaour Tewfik,
Maschke Ulrich
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200851309
Subject(s) - swelling , cyclohexane , materials science , solvent , monomer , polymer chemistry , isotropy , photoinitiator , acetone , acrylate , polymerization , anisotropy , polymer , chemical engineering , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
Summary: The swelling properties of photochemically crosslinked poly( n ‐butyl acrylate) (PABu) networks in isotropic and anisotropic solvents were investigated experimentally. The purpose of this study was to examine the swelling kinetics of PABu networks in isotropic solvents and to compare the results obtained which those observed in the case of the low molecular weight liquid crystal 4‐cyano‐4′‐ n ‐pentyl‐biphenyl known as 5CB. The phase diagrams were established in terms of composition and temperature for isotropic solvents, as toluene, acetone, cyclohexane, and methanol, and 5CB, using the plateau values corresponding to equilibrium states of swelling. The polymer networks were prepared via free radical polymerization/crosslinking processes by ultraviolet (UV) radiation of initial mixtures made up from a monomer, a crosslinker, and a photoinitiator. PABu networks with several crosslinking densities were formed using different quantities of difunctional monomer hexanedioldiacrylate (HDDA). Immersion of these networks in excess solvent allows measuring the solvent uptake by determination of the weight in isotropic solvents and diameter in an anisotropic solvent (5CB). Swelling data were rationalized by calculating weight and diameter ratios considering swollen to dry network states of the samples.