PEO/CHCl3. Crystallinity of the Polymer and Vapor Pressure of the Solvent. Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Phenomena

Vapor pressures were measured for the system CHCl3/PEO 1000 (PEO stands for poly(ethylene oxide) and 1000 for Mw in kg/mol) at 25 °C as a function of the weight fraction w of the polymer by means of a combination of headspace sampling and gas chromatography. The establishment of thermodynamic equilibria was assisted by employing thin polymer films. The degrees of crystallinity α of the pure PEO and of the solid polymer contained in the mixtures were determined via DSC. An analogous degree of polymer insolubility β was calculated from the vapor pressures measured in this composition range. The experiments demonstrate that both quantities and their concentration dependence are markedly affect…