ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Low-density polyethylene in mixtures of hexane and benzene derivates

Alena Randová, Lidmila Bartovská, Štěpán Hovorka, Pavel Izák, Magda Poloncarzová, and et al.

Department of Physical Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Technology, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic

E-mail: randovaa@vscht.cz

Abstract: Preferential sorption, equilibrium swelling degree, and volume of the swollen membrane in systems low-density polyethylene + hexane + aromatic compound (benzene, methylbenzene, or ethylbenzene) were studied using gravimetric and dilatometric methods at the temperature of 25 °C. Aromatic compounds are preferentially sorbed in low-density polyethylene compared to hexane. Experimental volume changes of the membrane were found to be noticeably different from those calculated on the basis of mass sorption data under the assumption of additivity. This difference points to the existence of the interactions between the polymer and the surrounding liquid mixture. The volume swelling degree curves are close to each other in the whole concentration range of the binary liquid mixture (hexane + aromatics) suggesting that the attractive forces between the polymer chains are the deciding factor limiting the volume expansion of the membrane in all three systems to the same extent.

Keywords: membrane swelling - low-density polyethylene - aromatic hydrocarbon - hexane - preferential sorption

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-010-0038-2

Chemical Papers 64 (5) 652–656 (2010)