CHEMICAL-STRUCTURE OF PLASTICIZERS, COMPATIBILITY OF COMPONENTS AND PHASE-EQUILIBRIUM IN PLASTICIZED CELLULOSE DIACETATE

The phase equilibrium of plasticized polymer systems on the basis of c ellulose diacetate and ethylene glycol esters of dibasic aliphatic aci ds (from oxalic acid to 1, 10-decanedicarboxylic acid) was studied and the solubility parameters and the thermodynamic interaction parameter s of the components were calculated. It is shown that an increase in m olecular weight of the plasticizers leads to a lower miscibility of th e components, a fact which is reflected in a regular rise of the upper critical solution temperature (UCST), a tendency of the systems for g elation, a decrease of the solubility parameter of the plasticizer del ta1, and a growth of the interaction parameters chi(H) and chi12. The results are discussed in terms of the existing theories for polymer so lutions.