Thermodynamic scaling of polymer dynamics versus T – Tg scaling

Abstract

A thermodynamic scaling law for the relaxation times of complex liquids as a function of temperature and volume has been proposed in the literature: τ(T,V) = f(TV(γ)), where γ is a material-dependent constant. We test this scaling for six materials, linear polystyrene, star polystyrene, two polycyanurate networks, poly(vinyl acetate), and poly(vinyl chloride), and compare the thermodynamic scaling to T-T(g) scaling, where τ = f(T-T(g)). The thermodynamic scaling law successfully reduces the data for all of the samples; however, polymers with similar structures but different glass transition (T(g)) and pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) behavior, i.e., the two polycyanurates, cannot be superposed unless the scaling law is normalized by T(g)V(g) (γ). On the other hand, the T-T(g) scaling successfully reduced data for all polymers, including those having similar microstructures. In addition, the T-T(g) scaling is easier to implement since it does not require knowledge of the PVT behavior of the material. The relationship between T(g)V(g) (γ)∕TV(γ) and T-T(g) scaling is clarified and is found to be weakly dependent on pressure.