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Equilibrium phase compositions of heterogeneous copolymers
Author(s) -
Bauer Barry J.
Publication year - 1985
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.760251706
Subject(s) - copolymer , materials science , polymer , spinodal , phase (matter) , chemical composition , monomer , thermodynamics , distribution function , molar mass distribution , phase diagram , polymer chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , physics
The products of random copolymerizations are heterogeneous in chemical composition, having a distribution of the fraction of each monomer in the copolymer. Polymer molecules with the same composition and molecular weight can be treated as separate components in a polymer blend. The spinodal limit is a simple function of chemical heterogeneity. The equilibrium number of phases, phase volumes, and average composition can be calculated from the condition that the chemical potential of a polymer species is equal in every phase. Phase diagrams are calculated for various hypothetical chemical distributions as well as a distribution characteristic of a random acrylonitrilebutadiene copolymerization to high conversion.