INTERACTIONS OF POLYSTYRENE WITH NORMAL-ALKANES IN BENZENE SOLUTION

Preferential and total sorption of polystyrene in benzene/n-alkane (C6, C7, C12 and C16) binary mixtures as a function of binary mixture composition have been studied by viscometry and laser light scattering. We have found, for high contents of n-alkane in the binary mixture, that benzene is always the liquid that solvates the polystyrene. This behaviour has been explained by taking into account that this binary mixture behaves similarly to a solvent/precipitant system. Also, we have found remarkable differences between the intra- and inter-molecular interactions of the system, due probably to solvation phenomena. © 1990.