Loosely Packed Research Articles

Localization of crosslinking bonds in irradiated plasticized polyvinyl chloride

According to chemical structure, plasticizing compounds increase, reduce, or do not influence the radiation crosslinking effect of polyvinylchloride. In the presence of an “inert” plasticizer crosslinking bonds are formed in close packed regions of the polymer, while in a system containing simultaneously an “inert” plasticizer and a plasticizer that increases the crosslinking effect of PVC, crosslinking bonds with small doses are formed in regions with loose packing. The tensile strength of irradiated plasticized polyvinyl chloride samples is determined mainly by crosslinking bonds in loosely packed regions.

The structure of solid poly-1,3,4-oxadiazoles

SOLUBLE poly-l,3,4-oxadiazoles are amorphous polymers with loose molecular packing [1], which is attributable to the rigidity of their chains and in a number of cases to the presence of bulky side groups, especially cyclic, phthalide side groups [2]. The structural peculiarities of such loosely packed, solid bodies are to a considerable extent determined by the size, shape, the nature of the size distribution and the arrangement of voids (pores) in the material. I t therefore seemed of interest to study the nature of the pore-volume distribution, from the apparent pore radii, and to compare the results with previously studied strain-strength and structural characteristics.

Mutual solubility of polymers and properties of their mixtures

AbstractHeats of mixing of polymers with each other have been measured, the behavior of the mixtures of solutions of various polymers has been studied, and the dependence of mechanical properties of polymer mixtures on the ratio of components has been investigated. It has been shown that mixing of polymers with each other is usually an endothermic process and, therefore, leads to formation of macroscopically homogenous, but actually microheterogenous, systems with an extremely high degree of dispersion. These microheterogenous polymer mixtures are formed because of the enormous viscosity of polymer mixtures, which prevents macroscopic separation into phases but does not hinder the considerable mobility of the segments of flexible chain molecules. It has been shown that the dependence of mechanical properties of microheterogenous polymer mixtures on the ratio of polymers in the mixture have sharp maxima or minima which cannot be found in the case of true polymers in polymer solutions. It has been found that the behavior of some polymer pairs is anomalous, in that exothermal mixing is supplemented by separation of the solution mixture into phases and by the appearance of maxima or minima in the dependences of the properties of polymer mixtures on the ratio of polymers in the mixture. This anomaly has been attributed to the effect of loose packing of the molecules of the polymers which show anomalous behavior. It has been shown that, in these systems, there necessarily exists a lower critical temperature of mixing whose value can be decreased by adding low‐molecular solvents to the loosely packed polymer. Attention has been drawn to the fact that, although mixing of amorphous polymers should be considered on a thermodynamic basis to be a mutual solution of two liquid phases, the large dimensions and the flexibility of polymer chain molecules require a critical revision of the possibility of formal application of the basis thermodynamic concepts and relations to a theoretical analysis of the behavior of polymer mixtures.

Sorptive properties of glasslike polymers

AbstractThe swelling and solution of elastic polymers, like the mixing of liquids, results in the formation of equilibrium systems. In the interaction of conventional glasses and liquids, however, quite different phenomena appear and cause nonequilibrium systems to form. The density of molecules in conventional glasses is similar t o that of tightly packed liquids, but the diffusion rates are very low. Such glasses sorb practically nothing at low vapor pressures. Sorption begins only when the vapor pressure and the concentration of sorbed liquid in the surface layer are sufficient to cause the glass to melt. It should be noted that in this case sorption shows a sharp rise and an equilibrium solution forms. The degree of tight packing of polymeric glasses varies considerably, decreasing with increasing molecular weight and rigidity of the chain molecules. This packing can be estimated by comparing the densities of the polymers with the volume of the molecular groups of which these polymers consist, the latter being obtained from x‐ray data, or by comparing the density of the monomer with that of the polymer. Cellulose, which unlike tightly packed glucose sorbs water over the whole range of vapor pressures, is a typical example of a loosely packed polymer. The effect of the density of packing on the sorbing properties of glasses can be more clearly demonstrated by the sorption of ethylbenzene by polystyrenes of different molecular weights. Low molecular weight polystyrenes dissolve in ethylbenzene without any heat production and sorb ethylbenzene from the vapor at high pressures only. This process results in the formation of a solution. High molecular weight polystyrenes, however, dissolve in ethylbenzene, producing heat, and sorb ethylbenzene a t all vapor pressures. The loose packing of polymers is the result of the long relaxation times existent in glasses. When the deformation time of the polymer is less than the volume relaxation time, the polymer becomes porous. Thus both the sorbing properties and the heats of solution of polystyrene become more pronounced during orientation. The degree of tight packing again increases at heats close to the glass point. Thus polymeric glasses hold an intermediate position between liquids and hard porous sorbents, such as silica gel, in regard to their sorbing properties. Unlike hard sorbents, however, they are apt to change their structure not only under external influence but also in the process of sorption.