Cosolvency and cononsolvency explained in terms of a Flory-Huggins type theory

Published

October 7, 2015

Author(s)

Jack F. Douglas, Jacek Dudowicz, Freed Karl

Abstract

Standard classic Flory-Huggins (FH) theory is employed to describe the enigmatic cosolvency and co-nonsolvency phenomena for systems of polymers dissolved in mixed solvents. In particular, phase boundaries (spinodals) are calculated for solutions of homopolymers B in single and binary mixtures of small molecule liquids A and C. The miscibility (or immiscibility) patterns for the ternary systems are classified in terms of the FH binary interaction parameters {χαβ} and the ratio r = φA/φC of the concentrations φA and φC of the two solvents. The trends in miscibility are compared to those observed for random copolymer (AxC1 x) homopolymer (B) blends and for A/B/C solutions of polymers B in liquid mixtures of small molecule A and C that naturally associate into polymeric clusters {ApCq}i,(i = 1, 2, · · ·, ∞).

Citation

Journal of Chemical Physics

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

phase separation, polymer in mixed solvents, co-solvency, co-non-solvency, block copolymers, Flory-Huggins theory

Citation

Douglas, J. , Dudowicz, J. and Karl, F. (2015), Cosolvency and cononsolvency explained in terms of a Flory-Huggins type theory, Journal of Chemical Physics (Accessed October 16, 2025)