Analogue calorimetry for blends of poly(vinyl
ester)s and polyacrylates has been studied.
Hydrogenated monomers were used as analogues of the corresponding
polymers. It is found that isomeric
esters differing only in the orientation of the COO group mix with only
small heat change, which can be
positive or negative. The values of the interaction energy
density, B
12 (in cal/cm3), are
−0.045, 0.031,
and −0.076, respectively, for the following binary mixtures; ethyl
acetate + methyl propionate, n-propyl
propionate + ethyl butyrate, and phenyl propionate + ethyl
benzoate. The negative heat of mixing for
the two pairs of very similar liquids, although unexpected, explains
why the corresponding polymers are
miscible. The small positive heat of mixing for the other pair is
sufficient to predict demixing of the
corresponding polymers, viz., poly(n-propyl acrylate)
and poly(vinyl butyrate), which contradicts the
observation of their homogeneous mixing. This suggests that
hydrogenated monomers are not always
the proper analogues for vinyl polymers for the prediction of the
interaction energy. A novel flow
calorimeter is also described. H
E and
V
E data for binary mixtures of the above esters
are presented.
Dispersion polymerization of acrylamide has been
successfully carried out in aqueous tert-butyl
alcohol
(TBA) media (TBA = 50 − 80 vol %) using poly(vinyl methyl
ether) (PVME) as the polymeric stabilizer
and ammonium persulfate as the initiator. Polydisperse spherical
as well as oval particles are formed.
The simultaneous presence of both spherical and oval particles
suggests the coalescence of similar size
particles (homocoalescence) takes place, leading to polydispersity.
The increase of stabilizer concentration
leads to a decrease in particle size and an increase in molecular
weight. An increase of initiator concentration
results in an increase in particle size and a decrease in molecular
weight. These observations are in
conformity with other dispersion polymerizations reported in the
literature. Particle size decreases as the
TBA concentration increases, i.e. as the medium polarity decreases.
TBA−water mixtures exhibit cosolvency
toward PVME, the solvency becoming highest at about 70 vol % TBA.
This solvency aspect cannot account
for the monotonous decrease of particle size with an increase in TBA
concentration. A plot of particle
diameter (D̄
n) vs the initial solubility
parameter (δ) of the medium gives a straight line unlike the
linear
relationship between D̄
n and 1/δ reported
for dispersion polymerization of nonpolar monomers in
polar
solvents. This difference in behavior for the two systems can be
reconciled if the grafted polymer acts as
the true stabilizer.
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