Studies in the Thermodynamics of Polymer-Liquid Systems. I. Natural Rubber and Polar Liquids
Abstract There is a great lack of reliable thermodynamic data on concentrated polymer solutions. This group of papers contributes further measurements, especially on systems consisting of a polar liquid and nonpolar polymer, and presents a review of the current situation. This first part records observations on the swelling of natural rubber in several polar liquids, using two different techniques. One of these is the conventional study of vapor pressures; the other is a novel procedure involving measurements of swelling and tension in stretched crosslinked samples. The results are compared with the Flory-Huggins equation, and show that as swelling proceeds and approaches saturation, there is a marked fall in the interaction parameter χ`. At the same time the entropy of dilution falls progressively further below the curves predicted by current theories.