Poly Ethylene Oxide

Ethylene oxide is manufactured by direct oxidation of ethylene with oxygen over silver catalysts. An older method involves the elimination of hydrogen chloride from ethylene chlorohydrin, CH2CI—CH2OH (from ethylene with NaOCl, H2O, and CI2). 

The copolymer of ethylene oxide with p-hydroxybenzoic acid gives a poly(ester ether) fiber. 

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Fig. XI-7. Volume fraction profile of 280,000-molecular-weight poly(ethylene oxide) adsorbed onto deuterated polystyrene latex at a surface density of 1.21 mg/m and suspended in D2O, from Ref. 70.

Alexandridis P and Hatton T A 1995 Poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) blook oopolymer surfaotants in aqueous solutions and at interfaoes thermodynamios, struoture, dynamios, modeling Colloids Surf. A 96 1-46... 

Poly(ethylene oxide). Although AH j is more than double that of polyethylene, the effect is offset by an even greater increase for AS j. The latter may be due to increased chain flexibility in the liquid caused by the regular insertion of ether oxygens along the chain backbone. 

Poly(oxyethylene) resins. See Poly(ethylene oxide) polymers. 

F. E. Bailey and J. V. Koleske, Poly(Ethylene Oxide), Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1976. 

Water-Soluble Films. Water-soluble films can be produced from such polymers as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH), methylceUulose, poly(ethylene oxide), or starch (qv) (see Cellulose ethers Polyethers Vinyl polymers). Water-soluble films are used for packaging and dispensing portions of detergents, bleaches, and dyes. A principal market is disposable laundry bags for hospital use. Disposal packaging for herbicides and insecticides is an emerging use. 

Synthetic Polymers. Examples of polymers in this class include acrylamide—acryHc polymers and their derivatives, polyamines and their derivatives, poly-(ethylene oxide), and allylamine polymers. 

Poly(ethylene oxide)s [25372-68-3] are made by condensation of ethylene oxide with a basic catalyst. In order to achieve a very high molecular weight, water and other compounds that can act as chain terminators must be rigorously excluded. Polymers up to a molecular weight of 8 million are available commercially in the form of dry powders (27). These must be dissolved carefliUy using similar techniques to those used for dry polyacrylamides. Poly(ethylene oxide)s precipitate from water solutions just below the boiling point (see Polyethers, ethylene oxide polymers). 

Materials similar ia high temperature properties to the Du Pont material with better low temperature properties have been synthesized usiag direct fluofination. The first was produced by reaction of fluorine with iaexpensive hydrocarbon polyethers such as poly(ethylene oxide). In the simplest case, poly(ethylene oxide) is converted to the perfluoroethylene oxide polymer ... 

Poly(ethylene oxide). The synthesis and subsequent hydrolysis and condensation of alkoxysilane-terniinated macromonomers have been studied (39,40). Using Si-nmr and size-exclusion chromatography (sec) the evolution of the siUcate stmctures on the alkoxysilane-terniinated poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) macromonomers of controlled functionahty was observed. Also, the effect of vitrification upon the network cross-link density of the developing inorganic—organic hybrid using percolation and mean-field theory was considered. 

Related work is discussed in the section on poly(ethylene oxide) hybrids (40). 

Alkoxide-Type Initiators. Using the guide that an appropriate initiator should have approximately the same stmcture and reactivity as the propagating anionic species (see Table 1), alkoxide, thioalkoxide, carboxylate, and sUanolate salts would be expected to be usehil initiators for the anionic polymeri2ation of epoxides, thikanes, lactones, and sUoxanes, respectively (106—108). Thus low molecular weight poly(ethylene oxide) can be prepared... 

Three generations of latices as characterized by the type of surfactant used in manufacture have been defined (53). The first generation includes latices made with conventional (/) anionic surfactants like fatty acid soaps, alkyl carboxylates, alkyl sulfates, and alkyl sulfonates (54) (2) nonionic surfactants like poly(ethylene oxide) or poly(vinyl alcohol) used to improve freeze—thaw and shear stabiUty and (J) cationic surfactants like amines, nitriles, and other nitrogen bases, rarely used because of incompatibiUty problems. Portiand cement latex modifiers are one example where cationic surfactants are used. Anionic surfactants yield smaller particles than nonionic surfactants (55). Often a combination of anionic surfactants or anionic and nonionic surfactants are used to provide improved stabiUty. The stabilizing abiUty of anionic fatty acid soaps diminishes at lower pH as the soaps revert to their acids. First-generation latices also suffer from the presence of soap on the polymer particles at the end of the polymerization. Steam and vacuum stripping methods are often used to remove the soap and unreacted monomer from the final product (56). 

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