Prediction of polymer-solvent interaction parameters from intrinsic viscosities

This paper reports a study on the prediction of polymer-solvent interaction parametersand second virial coefficients based on the Yamakawa two-parameter theory using Flory-Krigbaum-Orofino (FKO), modified Flory-Krigbaum-Orofino (MFKO) and Kurata-Yama-kawa (KY) models and Krigbaum empirical relation given the intrinsic viscosity in a par-ticular solvent and the intrinsic viscosity under theta condition together with the molecu-lar weight of the polymer. The results showed that the experimental values were fitted well with all the FKO,MFKO and KY models and the Krigbaum relation for polystyrene-toluene, polyepichlo-rohydrin-cyclohexanone and PMMA-butanone systems. For cellulose diacetate-cyclo-hexanone and polyarylate-tetrachloroethane systems, with polymer chains being more ri-gid, all but FKO model could provide a better prediction. The intrinsic viscosity methodcantherefore be considered as a ready and reliable method for the prediction of polymer-sol-vent interaction parameters and second virial coefficients.