DETERMINATION OF INFINITE DILUTION DIFFUSION AND ACTIVITY-COEFFICIENTS OF SOLVENTS IN POLYSTYRENE BY INVERSE GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY ON A CAPILLARY COLUMN

Infinite dilution activity and diffusion coefficients of several solvents in polystyrene have been measured by inverse gas chromatography on a capillary column for temperatures between 110 and 170-degrees-C. Chromatographic data have been treated according to Khan's model, evaluating the contribution to the peak broadening due to radial and axial molecular diffusion in the mobile phase, radial diffusion in the stationary phase, and interfacial mass transfer resistance. Four capillary columns have been prepared with coating thickness ranging from 0.5 to 3.3 microns in order to determine the minimum thickness necessary to obtain reliable measurements of the diffusion coefficient of the solvent in the polymer in every possible experimental condition. Our experimental data are in considerable agreement with the data already available in the literature, obtained by static and chromatographic methods. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.