Macromolecular reaction and interdiffusion in a compatible polymer blend

✍ Scribed by Victor Yashin; Yaroslav Kudryavtsev; Elena Govorun; Arkady Litmanovich

• Book ID: 102945614
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 966 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1022-1344
• DOI: 10.1002/mats.1997.040060116

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A theory describing slow macromolecular reaction and interdiffuion in a compatible polymer blend is suggested based on the linear non‐equilibrium thermodynamic principles. A simple model system is considered. In a blend consisting initially of homopolymers A and B, the transformation A → B proceeds with the B units accelerating the reaction. A system of diffusive‐reaction equations for relevant macroscopic variables is derived. The randomness of the reacting chains' structure gives rise to a new interdiffusion mode in addition to the reacting polymer‐homopolymer B interdiffusion. Numerical calculations reveal that the diffusive intermixing of reacting chains of different composition may significantly affect the reaction rate and the local compositional heterogeneity as well. It is possible to discriminate the fast‐ and the slow‐mode theories of interdiffusion using reaction kinetics data. Under certain conditions, the reaction may proceed in a non‐trivial autowave‐like regime.