Configurational entropy glass formation

IV. Configurational Entropy and Characteristic Temperatures for Glass Formation in Polymeric Fluids... 

Free Volume Versus Configurational Entropy Descriptions of Glass Formation Isothermal Compressibility, Specific Volume, Shear Modulus, and Jamming Influence of Side Group Size on Glass Formation Temperature Dependence of Structural Relaxation Times Influence of Pressure on Glass Formation... 

The lattice cluster theory (LCT) for glass formation in polymers focuses on the evaluation of the system s configurational entropy Sc T). Following Gibbs-DiMarzio theory [47, 60], Sc is defined in terms of the logarithm of the microcanonical ensemble (fixed N, V, and U) density of states 0( 7),... 

IV. CONFIGURATIONAL ENTROPY AND CHARACTERISTIC TEMPERATURES FOR GLASS FORMATION IN POLYMERIC FLUIDS... 

Our theory of polymer melt glasses distinguishes four characteristic temperatures of glass formation that are evaluated for a given pressure from the configurational entropy s T) or the specific volume v(T). Specifically, these four... 

VI. FREE VOLUME VERSUS CONFIGURATIONAL ENTROPY DESCRIPTIONS OF GLASS FORMATION... 

Endless discussion exists regarding whether a theory based on the configurational entropy or the excess free volume 8v provides the more correct description of glass formation. Thus, this section briefly analyzes the relation... 

Figure 22. The configurational entropy Sc per lattice site as calculated from the LCT for a constant pressure, high molar mass (M = 40001) F-S polymer melt as a function of the reduced temperature ST = (T — To)/Tq, defined relative to the ideal glass transition temperature To at which Sc extrapolates to zero. The specific entropy is normalized by its maximum value i = Sc T = Ta), as in Fig. 6. Solid and dashed curves refer to pressures of F = 1 atm (0.101325 MPa) and P = 240 atm (24.3 MPa), respectively. The characteristic temperatures of glass formation, the ideal glass transition temperature To, the glass transition temperature Tg, the crossover temperature Tj, and the Arrhenius temperature Ta are indicated in the figure. The inset presents the LCT estimates for the size z = 1/of the CRR in the same system as a function of the reduced temperature 5Ta = T — TaI/Ta. Solid and dashed curves in the inset correspond to pressures of P = 1 atm (0.101325 MPa) and F = 240 atm (24.3 MPa), respectively. (Used with permission from J. Dudowicz, K. F. Freed, and J. F. Douglas, Journal of Physical Chemistry B 109, 21350 (2005). Copyright 2005, American Chemical Society.)...

From these values, one may calculate and compare the effective glass transition temperature of the resin as a function of diluent concentration. Gordon et a1. have recently derived an expression relating the glass temperature of a polymer-plasticizer mixture to the glass temperatures of the components on the basis of the configurational entropy theory of glass formation (4). 

A simple way (actually the only way) to determine this low temperature amorphous phase is to use a theory that correctly predicts the behavior of the liquid and extend it to low temperatures. One obviously should use the most realistic existing equilibrium theory to obtain the low temperature phase. The predictions are the two equations of state, S-V-T and P-V-T which are each derived from the Helmholtz free energy F which is in turn obtained from the partition function (F=-kTLnQ). In obtaining the S-V-T equation of state it is discovered that the configurational entropy Sc defined as the total entropy minus the vibrational entropy, approaches zero at a finite temperature (4), This vanishing of Sc is taken as the thermodynamic criterion of glass formation (5,6). 

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