Phase separation phenomena of polysulfone/solvent/organic nonsolvent and polyethersulfone/solvent/organic nonsolvent systems

Abstract

The precipitation values (PVs) of several organic nonsolvents in polysulfone (PSf)/solvent and polyethersulfone (PESf)/solvent systems were measured in temperatures ranging from 10 to 80°C by the direct titration method and compared with those of water in the same systems. The solvents used were N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAC); the organic nonsolvents employed were methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol, ethylene glycol, and diethylene glycol as well as acetic acid and propionic acid. The compositions of nonsolvent, polymer, and solvent at the precipitation points for different polymer concentrations up to 10 wt % were also determined at 30°C with respect to both the polymers and six nonsolvents presented. These results were used to obtain the polymer precipitation curves in the polymer-solvent-nonsolvent triangular phase diagrams and to determine the theta composition of solvent-nonsolvent for a polymer. The results show that the precipitation value of nonsolvent in polymer/solvent systems depends on both the nature of polymer, solvent, and nonsolvent used and the temperature. The effect temperature on the precipitation value was observed to be dramatically different for different polymer/solvent/nonsolvent systems. These results were explained on the basis of polar and nonpolar interactions of the polymer, solvent, and nonsolvent system. The results indicate that the precipitation values of the type presented in this paper not only give a relative measure of the nonsolvent tolerance of the polymer/solvent system involved and the strength of solvent and nonsolvent for the polymer, but also determine the relative location of the polymer precipitation curve in the triangular phase diagram.