Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.108, No.18, 7881-7886, 1998
Molecular mechanisms for disparate miscibilities of poly(propylene) and head-to-head poly(propylene) with other polyolefins
Recent experiments find large differences in binary blend miscibilities between poly(propylene) in its ordinary and head-to-head forms with poly(ethylene propylene). This miscibility variation cannot be understood from simple Flory-Huggins (FH) theory but can readily be explained with the lattice cluster theory (LCT), a generalization of FH theory that accounts for nonrandom mixing, monomer structure, and chain semiflexibility in a systematic manner. Calculations are also presented of miscibility trends for poly(propylene)/poly(ethylene butylene) blends, one of which has yet to be studied. Experiments for this system should provide a nontrivial test of the LCT predictions.
Keywords:SATURATED-HYDROCARBON POLYMERS;LATTICE CLUSTER THEORY;BLENDS;SIMULATIONS;DEPENDENCE;PARAMETER;SYSTEMS;ALKANES;ORIGIN;ENERGY