Relative energy difference, RED

Some solubility parameters and molar volume values for the main plasticizers chemical families are given in Table 5.2. Regarding the Hansen parameters data table, the relative energy difference (RED) between PLA and molecules has been calculated by dividing the distance by the PLA solubility sphere radius. Therefore, the lower the difference value is, the better is the miscibility. Furthermore, a distance value higher than 1 means that the... 

The third solvent-resin spreadsheet on the computer disk is the DECITREE.WKl file (Figure 19.5), which allows one to compare the solubility parameters of possible substitute solvents with a selected resin and solvents that will be replaced. The values for the selected resin are supplied by the user while the solvent data is available from the lookup tables. The typical R values are calculated and the location of individual solvents and resin are detailed on a polarity versus hydrogen bonding plot (Figure 19.6). The keyboard commands for the plot are the same as in the previous data files. This spreadsheet allows the calculation of the relative energy difference (RED) term as a measure of the relative affinity of a solvent for a substance. The RED number is defined as the ratio R/ R or the solvent-substance radius of interaction value divided by the characteristic radius of the substance. If the RED value is less than 1.0, the solvent is expected to be compatible with the substance while progressively larger RED values indicate poorer solvents. A RED value of zero indicates a perfect match between the solubility values of the solvent and substance under study. 

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