Modification of the glass transitions of polymers by high-pressure gas solubility*
Séverine A. E. Boyer and J.-P. E. Grolier
Laboratoire de Thermodynamique des Solutions et des Polymères, Université Blaise Pascal, 63177 Aubière, France
Abstract: The newly developed VW-pVT technique for simultaneously measuring the solubility of a gas in a polymer and the concomitant change of volume of the polymer has been used to estimate the solubilities of N2, CO2, and two hydrofluorocarbons, HFC-134a and HFC-152a, in polystyrene (PS). In conjunction with these solubility data, Chow’s model has been used to calculate the change of the glass-transition temperature of the polymer resulting from gas sorption. The performance of this model for predicting the glass-transition temperature shift is then discussed.
Keywords: polystyrene; glass transition; gas solubility; carbon dioxide; nitrogen; HFC-134a; HFC-152a.
*Paper based on a presentation at the 11th International Symposium on Solubility Phenomena (11th ISSP), Aveiro, Portugal, 25-29 July 2004. Other presentations are published in this issue, pp. 513-665.