Methods of Evaluation of Polymer-Solvent Interactions

Common elastomers exhibit similar behaviors in solvents of those for gums under normal condition، but when cured with curing agents they tend to swell in solvents، which is due to different behaviors of rubbery networks in solvents. Studying the thermodynamics of these materials in different solvents and investigating their physico-chemical properties is very important in their molecular design and final applications. Usually the thermodynamics of swollen polymeric materials are defined by Flory-Rehner equation. The most important parameter that has influence on thermodynamics of polymer-solvent interaction is a parameter designated as. Although this parameter is the key to better understanding of thermodynamical swelling of rubbery networks but the number of articles which have studied its concept with deeper understanding is few. Therefore، the uncertainty over the determination of this parameter is one of the most crucial problems to evaluate the physic- chemical properties of polymeric networks.