Some important aspects of solubility of simple micromolecules in polymeric media

Abstract

The solubility of micromolecular solutes in rubbery polymeric media can be treated with reasonable simplicity and generality, when only non-polar or very weakly polar interactions are involved. A regular solution approach yields a useful description of the relative solubility of different gaseous solutes, but more sophisticated treatments are necessary for the evaluation of absolute solubilities. The treatment of excess solubility in glassy polymers seems to be the topic which currently attracts most interest. The dual mode sorption model, which has long been used for this purpose, as well as alternative approaches recently proposed, are discussed critically. © 1993 IUPAC