Solubility Profiles of Poly(ethylene glycol)/Solvent Systems. II. Comparison of Thermodynamic Parameters from Viscosity Measurements

Solution thermodynamics of PEG samples in aqueous and nonaqueous (methanol, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, and dimethylsulfoxide) solutions have been investigated by viscometric studies at 25, 30, 35, and 40 degrees C. The hydrodynamic expansion factor, a(h), and the unperturbed root mean square end-to-end distance, < r(2)>(1/2)(theta), found for the system indicated that the polymer coils contract as the temperature is raised. The long-range interaction parameter, B, was also evaluated and a significant decrease with increasing temperature was observed. The theta temperatures, theta, obtained from the temperature dependence of (1/2 - chi) and the second virial coefficient, A(2), are quite good in agreement with the calculated values evaluated via extrapolation and interpolation methods. The thermodynamic interaction parameter, x, was evaluated through the sum of the individual values of enthalpy and entropy dilution parameters for PEG samples. The restrictions applying to the establishment of concentration regimes, short-range, and long-range interactions are discussed. A parallelism is found between solubility profiles obtained by solution viscometry and solubility parameter approaches for PEG/solvent systems. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 117: 1100-1119, 2010