SOLUBILIZATION OF N-ALKANES INTO POLYAZOMETHINES HAVING FLEXIBLE (N-ALKYLOXY)METHYL SIDE-CHAINS - 2 - THEORETICAL-MODEL FOR THE ESTIMATION OF SOLUBILITY LIMIT

In a previous paper (H. Kim et al., Polymer, 1996, 37, 2573), the solu bility limit of n-alkanes in blends of n-alkane/polyazomethine having flexible (n-alkyloxy)methyl side chains was reported as a function of side chain lengths of the polymer and chain lengths of n-alkanes. This paper proposes a theoretical model for estimating the solubility limi t of n-alkanes. The model assumes that n-alkanes solubilize only into the layered side chain domain and that the side chain has a hyperbolic tangent function profile due to very high grafting density and densit y uniformity. The calculated solubility limit of,l-alkane increases an d decreases with increasing chain length of the side chain and chain l ength of the n-alkane, respectively. The model predictions are in qual itative agreement with experimental results (H. Kim et al., Polymer, 1 996, 37, 2573) although the former are much lower than the latter. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.