Effect of solvent balance on the surface properties of poly(vinyl chloride)

✍ Scribed by Gary C. Wildman; S.-J. Raymond Hsu

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1985
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 875 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/app.1985.070301115

✦ Synopsis

Films of poly(viny1 chloride) have been cast from solutions of varying thermodynamic quality and the film properties studied by inverse phase gas chromatography. The solvents included tetrahydrofuran, cyclohexanone, and mixtures of toluene with both tetrahydrofuran and cyclohexanone. The solvent composition was followed during evaporation and film formation for the mixed solvents, and it was shown that the slower evaporating solvent component has the greatest effect on the surface properties of the films. The porosity of the polymer film surfaces is interpreted in terms of the mobility of the polymer chains during film formation. At high concentrations, polymer chain-polymer chain interactions become stronger when thermodynamically leas powerful solvents are used or are last to leave during film formation; therefore, the solvent balance has a critical influenece on the film surface properties. Annealing the poly(viny1 chloride) above the glass transition temperature reduces the surface porosity of the cast polymer.