MOLECULAR-WEIGHT DEPENDENCE OF SURFACE-TENSION OF POLYSTYRENE AS STUDIED BY THE CORRESPONDING STATES PRINCIPLE

The corresponding states correlation with the surface tension (gamma) of polymers after Patterson et al. has been modified by considering th e molecular weight (M) dependence of the equation-of-state parameters, which may be estimated by either the Flory-Orwoll-Vrij (FOV) theory o r the cell model (CEM). It has been found that the corresponding state s principle-cum-FOV predicts the ys of polystyrene melts over a wide r ange of M satisfactorily. However, its CEM counterpart is rather irrel evant to the present system of interest. Indeed, the three classical l inear equations proposed for the variations of gamma with M are intima tely correlated with the foregoing models, and hence, facilitating the predictions of the ys of polymer end groups. (C) 1998 John Wiley & So ns, inc.