Solubility parameter copolymers

When more than routine water resistance is required, a copolymer vinyl acetate emulsion can be used. The plasticizing comonomer in the polymer particles increases their intrinsic coalescing ability thus, they can coalesce more readily than homopolymer particles to a film that has a higher resistance to water. This resistance to water does not extend to the organic solvents, however, which are better resisted by homopolymer films. The soft copolymers have lower solubility parameters than homopolymers and are more readily attacked by solvents of low polarity, eg, hydrocarbons. 

The anomalous effect of the last two rubbers in the table with their low solubility parameters is possibly explained by specific interaction of PVC with carbonyl and carboxyl groups present respectively in the ketone- and fumarate-containing rubbers to give a more than expected measure of compatibility. It is important to note that variation of the monomer ratios in the copolymers and terpolymers by causing changes in the solubility parameter and eompatibility will result in variation in their effect on impact strength. 

Numerous reports of comparable levels of success in correlating adhesion performance with the Scatchard-Hildebrand solubility parameters can be found in the literature [116,120-127], but failures of this approach have also been documented [128-132J. Particularly revealing are cases in which failure was attributed to the inability of the Scatchard-Hildebrand solubility parameter to adequately account for donor-acceptor (acid-base) interactions [130,132]. Useful reviews of the use of solubility parameters for choosing block copolymer compatibilizers have been prepared by Ohm [133] and by Gaylord [134]. General reviews of the use of solubility parameters in polymer science have been given by Barton [135], Van Krevelen [114], and Hansen [136]. 

In emulsion polymerization, NBR with acrylonitrile content between 15 and 50% can be obtained. The increase in the acrylonitrile content in the NBR produces an increase in the polar nature and solubility parameter in the copolymer [12]. Furthermore, the increase in acrylonitrile content improves the resistance to oils and also increases the glass transition temperature of the copolymers from -60 to-lO C. 

FIGURE 13.2 Calculated relation between the solubility parameter and glass transition temperature (Jg) for a variety of ethylene-propylene copolymers (EPMs) grafted with polar monomers the window for rubbers with an oil resistance similar to or better than hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer (NBR) (20 wt% acrylonitrile) is also shown. 

FIGURE 13.7 Calculated values for the solubility parameter and glass transition temperature (Tg) of a variety of designed ethylene-propylene graft copolymers. 

FIGURE 23.4 Solubility parameter spectra for elastomers ethylene propylene, nitrile (at 22% and 38% acrylonitrile content) and tetrafluoroethylene propylene copolymer. 

Although being qualitatively in agreement with experimental results, disagreements between experiment and theory remain. Besides the composition, /a, and the total degree of polymerization, N, all theoretical works refer to the segmental interaction parameter x This parameter can be estimated from a relationship to the solubility parameters. The ODT as a thermodynamic measure of the incompatibility was used to compare a set of symmetrically composed diblock copolymers from different hydrocarbons, polydimethyl-siloxane and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) [33]. While the behaviour of hydrocarbon diblock copolymers was successfully described by a consistent set of solubility parameters, this procedure failed for systems containing PEO. The... 

Another possible reason for the poor miscibility of the copolymer having the highest maleimide groups with PMMA is the dispersion effect that the increased content of maleimide in the copolymer makes the difference in solubility parameter between PMMA and the copolymer greater. 

The principal polyolefins are low-density polyethylene (ldpe), high-density polyethylene (hope), linear low-density polyethylene (lldpe), polypropylene (PP), polyisobutylene (PIB), poly-1-butene (PB), copolymers of ethylene and propylene (EP), and proprietary copolymers of ethylene and alpha olefins. Since all these polymers are aliphatic hydrocarbons, the amorphous polymers are soluble in aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents with similar solubility parameters. Like other alkanes, they are resistant to attack by most ionic and most polar chemicals their usual reactions are limited to combustion, chemical oxidation, chlorination, nitration, and free-radical reactions. 

PAN has a solubility parameter of about 11 H and is soluble only in polar solvents, such as dimethylacetamide (DMAc). Because of PAN s high polarity, its fibers are difficult to dye. This difficulty has been overcome by producing copolymers of acrylonitrile with small amounts (4%) of more-hydrophilic monomers, such as jV-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (left), methacrylic acid (center), or 2-vinylpyridine (right), which have the following structures ... 

PMA is a tough leathery resin with a low Tg and a solubility parameter of 10.5 H. In polymers of alkyl acrylates the solubility parameter decreases as the size of the alkyl group increases. The flexibility also increases with the size of the pendant groups but because of side chain crystallization this tendency is reversed when the alkyl group has more than ten carbon atoms. Polyalkyi acrylates are readily hydrolyzed by alkalis to produce salts of polyacrylic acid. The copolymer of ethyl acrylate (95%) and chloroethyl vinyl ether (5%) is a commercial oil-resistant elastomer. 

The incorporation of polar groups in unvulcanized polymers reduces their solubility in benzene. Thus the copolymer of acrylonitrile and butadiene (NBR), polychlorobutadiene (Neoprene), and fluorinated EP (the copolymer of ethylene and propylene) are less soluble in benzene and lubricating oils than the previously cited elastomers. Likewise, silicones and phosphazene elastomers, as well as elastomeric polyfluorocarbons, are insoluble in many oils and aromatic hydrocarbons because of their extremely low solubility parameters (silicons 7-8 H polytetrafluoroethylene 6.2 benzene 9.2 toluene 8.9 pine oil P.6). 

Intractable polymers, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), may be flexibilized, to some extent, by the formation of copolymers, such as the copolymers of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate or octyl acrylate, or by the addition of nonvolatile low-molecular-weight compounds (plasticizers) having solubility parameters similar to those of the polymer. Thus PVC is plasticized by the addition of dioctyl phthalate. The flexibility of these products is proportional to the amount of plasticizer added. Copolymers, such as the vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, require less plasticizer to obtain the same degree of flexibility. 

FBZ precursor and can therefore be attributed to the segregated PFPE moiety. This kind of behavior is quite general for copolymers containing PFPE macromers and also in the Z1072 and Z1073 resins themselves. The driving force is the relevant difference in solubility parameters between fluorinated and nonfluorinated macromers, since the cohesive energy density (CED) of the perfluorocopolyethers is one of the smallest known. ... 

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