Liquid-glassy polymer diffusion: Effects of liquid molecular weight and temperature

We examine mechanistic aspects of the diffusion between a series of liquid polystyrenes (PS) and a glassy poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) matrix, through the use of confocal Raman microspectroscopy. The results show that the diffusion kinetics has Fickean characteristics, similar to those found in liquid-liquid polymer diffusion. No signatures of the linear regime typical of the case-II diffusion mechanism were found. Overall, these observations are consistent with the claim that case-II is unlikely to occur in liquid-glassy polymer diffusion. [GRAPHICS]