Mixing interaction parameter

The classical lattice statistical model only considers the mixtures of two incompressible fluids. Flory recognized that the line of the actual mixing interaction parameter versus the reciprocal temperature does not have zero intercept, i.e. 

At the interfaces, the critical mixing coil sizes (proportional to the reciprocal of the mixing interaction parameter) are comparable to the interface thickness. Accordingly,... 

Although the mixing interaction parameter exhibits the same formulas with the Flory-Huggins parameter, it contains contributions from both the mixing energy and the parallel packing energy. 

The quantity x is called the Flory-Huggins interaction parameter It is zero for athermal mixtures, positive for endothermic mixing, and negative for exothermic mixing. These differences in sign originate from Eq. (8.39) and reaction (8.A). 

Attempts have also been made to carry out surface modifications of the aggregate to enhance interactions with the asphalt (135) and other workers have made attempts to measure or predict the strength and type of asphalt—aggregate bonds (136,137). However, it must also be remembered that mix design parameters play an important role in determining the performance of asphalt—aggregate mixes (138—142). 

The mixing rule is given by Eq. (2-100) with the interaction parameter Q for each pair of components defined by Eq. (2-101). 

A more accurate analysis of this problem incorporating renormalization results, is possible [86], but the essential result is the same, namely that stretched, tethered chains interact less strongly with one another than the same chains in bulk. The appropriate comparison is with a bulk-like system of chains in a brush confined by an impenetrable wall a distance RF (the Flory radius of gyration) from the tethering surface. These confined chains, which are incapable of stretching, assume configurations similar to those of free chains. However, the volume fraction here is q> = N(a/d)2 RF N2/5(a/d)5/3, as opposed to cp = N(a/d)2 L (a/d)4/3 in the unconfined, tethered layer. Consequently, the chain-chain interaction parameter becomes x ab N3/2(a/d)5/2 %ab- Thus, tethered chains tend to mix, or at least resist phase separation, more readily than their bulk counterparts because chain stretching lowers the effective concentration within the layer. The effective interaction parameters can be used in further analysis of phase separation processes... 

According to Flory-Huggins theory, the heat of mixing of solvent and polymer is proportional to the binary interaction parameter x in equation (3). The parameter x should be inversely proportional to absolute temperature and independent of solution composition. 

Lohse et al. have summarized the results of recent work in this area [21]. The focus of the work is obtaining the interaction parameter x of the Hory-Huggins-Stavermann equation for the free energy of mixing per unit volume for a polymer blend. For two polymers to be miscible, the interaction parameter has to be very small, of the order of 0.01. The interaction density coefficient X = ( y/y)R7 , a more relevant term, is directly measured by SANS using random phase approximation study. It may be related to the square of the Hildebrand solubility parameter (d) difference which is an established criterion for polymer-polymer miscibility ... 

Thermodynamic models are widely used for the calculation of equilibrium and thermophysical properties of fluid mixtures. Two types of such models will be examined cubic equations of state and activity coefficient models. In this chapter cubic equations of state models are used. Volumetric equations of state (EoS) are employed for the calculation of fluid phase equilibrium and thermophysical properties required in the design of processes involving non-ideal fluid mixtures in the oil and gas and chemical industries. It is well known that the introduction of empirical parameters in equation of state mixing rules enhances the ability of a given EoS as a tool for process design although the number of interaction parameters should be as small as possible. In general, the phase equilibrium calculations with an EoS are very sensitive to the values of the binary interaction parameters. 

In this section we consider typical examples. They cover all possible cases that could be encountered during the regression of binary VLE data. Illustration of the methods is done with the Trebble-Bishnoi (Trebble and Bishnoi, 1988) EoS with quadratic mixing rules and temperature-independent interaction parameters. It is noted, however, that the methods are not restricted to any particular EoS/mixing rule. 

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