Polymers coils

Figure C2.6.10. Phase diagram of colloid-polymer mixtures polymer coil volume fraction vs particle...

At the molecular level, stretching extends polymer coils and facilitates crystallization. 

The logic that leads us to this last result also limits the applicability of the ensuing derivation. Applying the fraction of total lattice sites vacant to the immediate vicinity of the first segment makes the model descriptive of a relatively concentrated solution. This is somewhat novel in itself, since theories of solutions more commonly assume dilute conditions. More to the point, the model is unrealistic for dilute solutions where the site occupancy within the domain of a dissolved polymer coil is greater than that for the solution as a whole. We shall return to a model more appropriate for dilute solutions below. For now we continue with the case of the more concentrated solution, realizing... 

We consider the approach of two polymer coils in dilute solution until the two coil domains overlap to some extent, as shown in Fig. 8.11. According to... 

Next we consider the situation of a coil which is unperturbed in the hydro-dynamic sense of being effectively nondraining, yet having dimensions which are perturbed away from those under 0 conditions. As far as the hydrodynamics are concerned, a polymer coil can be expanded above its random flight dimensions and still be nondraining. In this case, what is needed is to correct the coil dimension parameters by multiplying with the coil expansion factor a, defined by Eq. (1.63). Under non-0 conditions (no subscript), = a(rg)Q therefore under these conditions we write... 

The crossover regime occurs at obstacle density C bs when the size of the random polymer coil becomes equal to the size of the pores, Rg =, obs-From Eqs. (46) and (47) in this regime follows... 

Studies on the reactions of small model radicals with monomers provide indirect support but do not prove the bootstrap effect.111 Krstina et ahL i showed that the reactivities of MMA and MAN model radicals towards MMA, S and VAc were independent of solvent. However, small but significant solvent effects on reactivity ratios are reported for MMA/VAc111 and MMA S 7 copolymerizations. For the model systems, where there is no polymer coil to solvate, there should be no bootstrap effect and reactivities are determined by the global monomer ratio [Ma0]/[Mb0].1j1... 

Flow-induced degradation is intimately related to the nonequilibrium conformation of polymer coils and any attempt to interpret the process beyond the phenomenological stage would be incomplete without a sound understanding of chain dynamics. To make the paper self-contained and to provide a theoretical basis for the discussion, we have included some fundamental models of polymer dynamics in the next section which may also serve as a guideline for future work in the field of polymer degradation in flow. For the first-time reader, however, this section is not absolutely necessary. Further, any reader familiar with molecular rheology or interested only in experimental results can skip this section, only to go back whenever a reference is needed. 

In good solvents, the mean force is of the repulsive type when the two polymer segments come to a close distance and the excluded volume is positive this tends to swell the polymer coil which deviates from the ideal chain behavior described previously by Eq. (1). Once the excluded volume effect is introduced into the model of a real polymer chain, an exact calculation becomes impossible and various schemes of simplification have been proposed. The excluded volume effect, first discussed by Kuhn [25], was calculated by Flory [24] and further refined by many different authors over the years [27]. The rigorous treatment, however, was only recently achieved, with the application of renormalization group theory. The renormalization group techniques have been developed to solve many-body problems in physics and chemistry. De Gennes was the first to point out that the same approach could be used to calculate the MW dependence of global properties... 

The Zimm model predicts correctly the experimental scaling exponent xx ss M3/2 determined in dilute solutions under 0-conditions. In concentrated solution and melts, the hydrodynamic interaction between the polymer segments of the same chain is screened by the host molecules (Eq. 28) and a flexible polymer coil behaves much like a free-draining chain with a Rouse spectrum in the relaxation times. 

In order to observe any temperature dependence in transient flow degradation, it would be necessary to prolong considerably the effective residence time of the polymer coil. This can be accomplished either by recirculating the solution or by using an oscillatory flow equipment as described in Sect. 4.1 (Figs. 23 and 24). 

A plausible assumption would be to suppose that the molecular coil starts to deform only if the fluid strain rate (s) is higher than the critical strain rate for the coil-to-stretch transition (ecs). From the strain rate distribution function (Fig. 59), it is possible to calculate the maximum strain (kmax) accumulated by the polymer coil in case of an affine deformation with the fluid element (efl = vsc/vcs v0/vcs). The values obtained at the onset of degradation at v0 35 m - s-1, actually go in a direction opposite to expectation. With the abrupt contraction configuration, kmax decreases from 19 with r0 = 0.0175 cm to 8.7 with r0 = 0.050 cm. Values of kmax are even lower with the conical nozzles (r0 = 0.025 cm), varying from 3.3 with the 14° inlet to a mere 1.6 with the 5° inlet. In any case, the values obtained are lower than the maximum stretch ratio for the 106 PS which is 40. It is then physically impossible for the chains to become fully stretched in this type of flow. 

Hyperbranched poly(ethyl methacrylate)s prepared by the photo-initiated radical polymerization of the inimer 13 were characterized by GPC with a lightscattering detector [51]. The hydrodynamic volume and radius of gyration (i g) of the resulting hyperbranched polymers were determined by DLS and SAXS, respectively. The ratios of Rg/R are in the range of 0.75-0.84, which are comparable to the value of hard spheres (0.775) and significantly lower than that of the linear unperturbed polymer coils (1.25-1.37). The compact nature of the hyperbranched poly(ethyl methacrylate)s is demonstrated by solution properties which are different from those of the linear analogs. 

Mixed solvents are generally unsatisfactory for use in the determination of polymer molecular weights owing to the likelihood of selective absorption of one of the solvent components by the polymer coil. The excess of polarizabilit f of the polymer particle (polymer plus occluded solvent) is not then equal to the difference between the polarizabilities of the polymer and the solvent mixture. For this reason the refractive increment dn/dc which would be required for calculation of K, or of i7, cannot be assumed to equal the observed change in refractive index of the medium as a whole when polymer is added to it, unless the refractive indexes of the solvent components happen to be the same. The size Vmay, however, be measured in a mixed solvent, since only the dissymmetry ratio is required for this purpose. 

It should be remarked that small differences between the average dimension of a polymer coil in different -solvents at the same temperature may... 

Figure 4 demonstrates the results of several investigations. It can be seen that both methods lead to a linear dependence between c and Mw but differ by a factor of ten. The reason is seen in the fact that c ] depends on a model (Einstein s law), whereas c LS gives absolute results. In both cases the geometric shape of the polymer coils are assumed to be spherical but, in accordance with the findings of Kuhn, we know that the most probable form can be best represented as a bean-like (irregularly ellipsoidal) structure. 

A polymer coil does not only possess a structure on the atomistic scale of a few A, corresponding to the length of covalent bonds and interatomic distances characteristic of macromolecules are coils that more or less, obey Gaussian statistics and have a diameter of the order of hundreds of A (Fig. 1.2) [17]. Structures of intermediate length scales also occur e. g., characterized by the persistence length. For a simulation of a polymer melt, one should consider a box that contains many such chains that interpenetrate each other, i. e., a box with a linear dimension of several hundred A or more, in order to ensure that no artefacts occur attributable to the finite size of the simulation box or the periodic boundary conditions at the surfaces of the box. This ne-... 

An even more serious problem concerns the corresponding time scales on the most microscopic level, vibrations of bond lengths and bond angles have characteristic times of approx. rvib 10-13 s somewhat slower are the jumps over the barriers of the torsional potential (Fig. 1.3), which take place with a time constant of typically cj-1 10-11 s. On the semi-microscopic level, the time that a polymer coil needs to equilibrate its configuration is at least a factor of the order larger, where Np is the degree of polymerization, t = cj 1Np. This formula applies for the Rouse model [21,22], i. e., for non-... 

As described in Sect. 1, the relevant length scales and time scales are a serious problem for any simulation of polymer melts [12,16-20] and, as discussed, a polymer coil has structures on different distance scales (Fig. 1.2) [17] and relaxations on different time scales. A brute force approach, consisting of a simulation of fully atomistic models of a sufficiently large system over time scales for which thermal equilibration could be reached at practically relevant temperatures, is totally impossible. Useful progress requires a different approach. 

Electrolyte Effect on Polymer Solution Rheology. As salt concentration in an aqueous poly(1-amidoethylene) solution increases, the resulting brine becomes a more Theta-solvent for the polymer and the polymer coil compresses(47) This effect is particularly pronounced for partially hydrolyzed poly(l-amidoethylene). The... 

The relevant part of the phase diagram (x > 0) is shown in Fig. 38. The c-x-plane is divided into four areas. The dilute regime I and I are separated from the semi-dilute regimes III and II, where the different polymer coils interpenetrate each other, by the so-called overlap concentration... 

Equations (18) and (16) define a temperature where Gaussian behavior is observed (the phase separation temperature) where % — 1/2 and thermal energy is just sufficient to break apart PP and SS interactions to form PS interactions. Equation (12) using (17) for Vc is called the Flory-Krigbaum equation. This expression indicates that only three states are possible for a polymer coil at thermal equilibrium ... 

Models of the polymer coil are based on the end-to-end distance, which is generally not directly available as a quantitative feature. Coils in dilute solution can be characterized in terms of the radius of gyration, Rg, which is a statistical measure of the distribution of mass about the center of gravity or in terms of the hydrodynamic radius, Rh, that is usually determined through the use of Stokes law and a measurement of a drag coefficient or friction factor, /drag/ for the coil,... 

The expansion of a polymer coil is determined by its interaction with the solvent. The more favorable the interaction between the polymer segments and the solvent molecules (good solvent), the better the polymer dissolves and the more the coil expands. 

Apart from the data of thermonephelometry and HS-DSC,1H NMR studies have also revealed [27] some properties that allowed the attribution of such s-type copolymers to the protein-like ones. A marked broadening of the water proton signal was observed caused by the decreased mobility of bound water just in the vicinity of the temperature of HS-DSC peak. These data indicated the heat-induced compaction of the interior of the polymer coils, as would occur with protein-like macromolecules. Figure 5 demonstrates the experimental data, viz., the temperature dependences of signal width at half-height for the peaks of water protons recorded in D2 O-solutions of p- and s-fractions of the copolymer synthesized from the feed with an initial comonomer ratio of 85 15 (mole/mole). 

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