ISSN:
0098-1273
Keywords:
Physics
;
Polymer and Materials Science
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Physics
Notes:
Gels made by radical copolymerization of monofunctional and difunctional monomer units in the presence of swelling medium will tend to be heterogeneous. A case in point is acrylamide co-polymerized with N,N′-methylene bis-acrylamide in water. Such gels can be assumed to be two-phasic with both phases gels, but of different average concentration and average degree of cross-linking. As Weiss and Silberberg have shown, permeability can be used to characterize the distribution in space. In this paper, their earlier model is expanded and improved by considering specifically the permeability of each of the two phases and taking into account that each of these phases separately must have come into swelling equilibrium with the swelling medium, water. It can be shown that only the length of the Kuhn statistical element remains as a free parameter in this model. Essentially the same value of this parameter, however, accurately accounts for the measured permeability. It is found that at an overall volume fraction of about 0.16, the two-phase structure tends to disappear. For higher degrees of crosslinking, this occurs because the more dilute phase takes over the entire space; for more lightly crosslinked systems, the more concentrated phase takes over. The heterogeneity of the distribution lies in the nanometer range and reasonable agreement between the results obtainable from permeability and from viscoelasticity can be demonstrated. These results are consistent with the model for the polymerization process.
Additional Material:
9 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pol.1979.180171217
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