Physical Properties of Polymers (Ultrastructure Processing of Polymers).

摘要

The research undertaken was an extension of earlier AFOSR supported endeavors dealing mainly with 'the physical properties of polymer blends', the 'plasticization of epoxy and other network polymers by water' and the 'characterization of stiff chain macromolecules by quasi-elastic light scattering'. In the polymer blend research substantial progress was achieved in elucidating thermodynamic and structural factors underlying the phenomenon of miscibility in binary polymer systems. The effects of chemical structure, tacticity, molecular weight, temperature, and their components were investigated by a number of techniques including calorimetry, vapor absorption, inverse gas chromatography and by the establishment of binary or ternary phase diagrams for appropriate systems. The study of the plasticization of network polymers was prompted by an earlier study of the effect on water on epoxy resins. It was established that, contrary to some earlier suppositions, the relatively large depression in the glass transitions of epoxies by small amounts of absorbed water, could be accounted for by purely thermodynamic analysis and did not require, in particular, the concept of specific polymer-sorbate interactions. (KT)