Specific heats for poly( methyl methacrylate), poly( diethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(cyclohexy1 methacrylate), poly(ally1 methacrylate), and poly(ethy1 acrylate) were measured from 120 to 300Β°C. with a drop calorimeter. It was found that existing solidstate theories and equations were unable to correlate the data. The reason advanced was that such theories were developed for crystalhe materials, which differed greatly from the amorphous polymers of the present work. A more successful approach was to use a correlation technique originally developed for organic liquids.
Polymers are one of the most important of all engineering materials, but in spite of their importance little is known about their physical and chemical properties. This is particularly true of the calorimetric behavior of polymers.
The present work was undertaken to help fill the need for calorimetric data. The study determined experimental enthalpies for a group of methacrylic polymers: poly(methy1 methacrylate), poly(dimethy1aminoethyl methacrylate), poly(ally1 methacrylate) , poly(cyclohexy1 methacrylate), and an acrylic polymer, poly(ethy1 acrylate). The accompanying schemes show the structures of their polymer repeating units. Correlation techniques for the polymers' specific heats were developed ; they are based on the structural characteristics of the polymers. poly(methy1 methacrylate)