Abstract
It is proposed that the overall free energy of a polymer solution has three fundamentally different types of contributions, i.e. the translational, the configurational and the thermal correction parts. The second and the third parts have the additive properties for segments and can be calculated by path integral method with the introduction of a new concept of effective concentration. Taking the volume fraction as the effective concentration, one obtains the Li-Zhao theory of polymer solutions reported previously. The results calculated by the present theory match the spinodals data of PS/cyclohexane systems with different molecular weights much better than those based on the Flory-Huggins theory.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 153-159 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Acta Polymerica Sinica |
| Issue number | 2 |
| State | Published - Apr 1 2004 |
Keywords
- Effective concentration
- Path integral method
- Phase separation
- Polymer solution
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- General Chemical Engineering
- Polymers and Plastics