Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data, Vol.56, No.4, 1468-1475, 2011
The Behavior of Poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-diphenylsiloxane)s in Good and Theta Solvents
In this work, we investigated the behavior of poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-diphenylsiloxane)s under good and theta solvent conditions by using turbidimetry and viscosimetry. The evolution of the optical properties as a function of the solvent quality allowed the composition of the methylbenzene/methanol mixtures at the theta point to be determined. The intrinsic viscosity was determined in good (methylbenzene) and theta (methylbenzene/methanol) solvents at T = 298 K using different approaches. The unperturbed dimension parameters were calculated and are discussed as a function of copolymer composition. The introduction of the diphenylsiloxane units into a poly(dimethylsiloxane) chain results in an increase in the unperturbed dimensions as a consequence of the decrease in chain flexibility.