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A study on the dissolution rate of irradiated poly(methyl methacrylate)
Author(s) -
Ouano A. C.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.760180412
Subject(s) - dissolution , methyl methacrylate , materials science , polymer , solvent , solubility , volatilisation , irradiation , enthalpy , poly(methyl methacrylate) , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , monomer , organic chemistry , chemistry , composite material , thermodynamics , engineering , physics , nuclear physics
A detailed study of the factors affecting the dissolution rate of poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, showed that the magnitude of the increase in the dissolution rate of irradiated PMMA could not be entirely attributed to the reduction in the molecular weight, MW . The formation of non‐polymeric volatile fragments by radiation exposure, i.e., CO, CO 2 H 2 , CH 3 OH and CH 4 causes a large increase in the solvent flux into the polymer matrix, thereby causing a large increase in the dissolution rate of exposed PMMA. The volatilization of these low molecular weight fragments cause an increase in the “excess free volume” (microporosity) of the glassy PMMA. The relative magnitudes of the contribution of the MW reduction and the formation of volatile matter on the increase in the solubility rate of the irradiated polymer were found to depend on the molecular size of the solvent, and also on the enthalpy of mixing.