Polystyrene separations

The major advantage of the capillary hydrodynamic chromatography is that the mobile phase does not need to have similar solubility parameter as the sample and packing material. (In SEC, nonsize exclusion effects may be observed if the solubility parameter of the sample, packing material, or mobile phase is considerably different.) Therefore, the hydrodynamic size of polymers can be studied in a 0 solvent and even in a solvent that is not compatible with any currently available SEC packing material (9). Figure 22.4 is an example of polystyrene separation in both THF and diethyl malonate. Diethyl malonate is the 0 solvent of polystyrene at 31-36 C. 

Gel permeation chromatography of polystyrene separated from blend samples indicates that high-molecular-weight polymer is formed. Polystyrene removed from a 43 wt % polystyrene/HDPE specimen exhibited Mw = 628 K with polydispersity index, PDI = 2.7. The corresponding polystyrene formed outside this specimen exhibited Mw = 48 K with PDI = 3.1. 

Bulk polymerization is the main process for making high-impact polystyrene (HIPS). Polybutadiene is dissolved in styrene at 3-10% (w/w) concentration and the styrene is polymerized with careful agitation. Phase separation occurs with polybutadiene-g-polystyrene separating out. The final product is a dispersion of polybutadiene particles, which themselves contain occluded polystyrene. Polymerization conditions are adjusted to control the size and volume of these particles, which range respectively from 0.1 to 6.0 pm and 0.1 to 0.4 volume fraction of the material. 

Knox et al. (6 la) have provided a similar comparison of experimental and calculated band widths for polystyrenes separated by SEC. 

Figure C2.1.11. Morjrhologies of a microphase-separated di-block copolymer as function of tire volume fraction of one component. The values here refer to a polystyrene-polyisoprene di-block copolymer and ( )pg is tire volume fraction of the polystyrene blocks. OBDD denotes tire ordered bicontinuous double diamond stmcture. (Figure from [78], reprinted by pemrission of Annual Reviews.)...

Two classes of micron-sized stationary phases have been encountered in this section silica particles and cross-linked polymer resin beads. Both materials are porous, with pore sizes ranging from approximately 50 to 4000 A for silica particles and from 50 to 1,000,000 A for divinylbenzene cross-linked polystyrene resins. In size-exclusion chromatography, also called molecular-exclusion or gel-permeation chromatography, separation is based on the solute s ability to enter into the pores of the column packing. Smaller solutes spend proportionally more time within the pores and, consequently, take longer to elute from the column. 

By combining Eqs. (8.42), (8.49), and (8.60), show that Vi°(52 - 5i) = (l/2)RTj., where T. is the critical temperature for phase separation. For polystyrene with M = 3 X 10, Shultz and Floryf observed T. values of 68 and 84°C, respectively, for cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol. Values of Vi° for these solvents are abut 108 and 106 cm mol", respectively, and 5i values are listed in Table 8.2. Use each of these T. values to form separate estimates of 62 for polystyrene and compare the calculated values with each other and with the value for 62 from Table 8.2. Briefly comment on the agreement or lack thereof for the calculated and accepted 5 s in terms of the assumptions inherent in this method. Criticize or defend the following proposition for systems where use of the above relationship is justified Polymer will be miscible in all proportions in low molecular weight solvents from which they differ in 5 value by about 3 or less. 

Ion-exchange separations can also be made by the use of a polymer with exchangeable anions in this case, the lanthanide or actinide elements must be initially present as complex ions (11,12). The anion-exchange resins Dowex-1 (a copolymer of styrene and divinylben2ene with quaternary ammonium groups) and Amherlite IRA-400 (a quaternary ammonium polystyrene) have been used successfully. The order of elution is often the reverse of that from cationic-exchange resins. 

Phase Separation. Microporous polymer systems consisting of essentially spherical, intercoimected voids, with a narrow range of pore and ceU-size distribution have been produced from a variety of thermoplastic resins by the phase-separation technique (127). If a polyolefin or polystyrene is insoluble in a solvent at low temperature but soluble at high temperatures, the solvent can be used to prepare a microporous polymer. When the solutions, containing 10—70% polymer, are cooled to ambient temperatures, the polymer separates as a second phase. The remaining nonsolvent can then be extracted from the solid material with common organic solvents. These microporous polymers may be useful in microfiltrations or as controlled-release carriers for a variety of chemicals. 

The organic and aqueous phases are prepared in separate tanks before transferring to the reaction ketde. In the manufacture of a styrenic copolymer, predeterrnined amounts of styrene (1) and divinylbenzene (2) are mixed together in the organic phase tank. Styrene is the principal constituent, and is usually about 90—95 wt % of the formulation. The other 5—10% is DVB. It is required to link chains of linear polystyrene together as polymerization proceeds. DVB is referred to as a cross-linker. Without it, functionalized polystyrene would be much too soluble to perform as an ion-exchange resin. Ethylene—methacrylate [97-90-5] and to a lesser degree trivinylbenzene [1322-23-2] are occasionally used as substitutes for DVB. 

Figure 3 A calculated reflectivity profile for a perdeuterated polystyrene film with a thickness of SO nm on a silicon substrate. The calculation was for a specimen where the interfaces between the specimen and air and the specimen and the substrate were sharp. This causes the reflectivity on average (shown by the dashed line) to decrease in proportion to k or 9. The separation distance between the minima of the oscillations diractly yields the thickness of the specimen, as shown.

As previously discussed, the JKR theory predicts that the detachment force is independent of the Young s modulus. Yet despite that, when Gady et al. [117] measured the detachment force of polystyrene particles from two elastomeric substrates having Young s moduli of 3.8 and 320 MPa, respectively, they found that the detachment force from only the more compliant substrate agreed with the predicted value. The force needed to separate the particle from the more rigid substrate was about a factor of 20 lower. Estimates of the penetration depth revealed that the particles would penetrate into the more compliant substrate more deeply than the heights of the asperities. Thus, in that case, the spherical particle approximation would be reasonable. On the other hand, the penetration depth... 

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