Effect of solvent quality on the viscosity of dilute solutions of PVC

The dilute solution properties of two Poly(vinyl chloride) i.e., PVC samples of molecular weight 200,000 and 100,000 were studied viscometrically in four solvents. The effect of the nature of the solvent was determined showing the solvent power for PVC to be cyclohexanone > tetrahydrofuran > cyclopentanone > dioxane on the basis of [eta] and K-H. Hydrodynamic volume values are also reported for these PVC-solvent system and a similar order of solvent power is suggested. Unperturbed chain dimensions for PVC were determined by using Deb and Chatterjee equation for non-theta solvents and the values are discussed.