Relationship of intrinsic viscosity to molecular weight for poly (1, 4-butylene adipate)

The relationships between molecular weight and intrinsic viscosity were established for poly(1, 4-butylene adipate) (PBA) with the molecular weight M-w <= 20,000 in tetrahydrofuran at 298 K. Thus, two series of PBA samples having narrow and broad molecular weight distributions (MWD) were prepared by polymerization between 1,6-adipic acid and 1,4-butanediol. The number average molecular weights (M-n) of the samples were measured by end-group analysis. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) was used to determine average molecular weights (M-n, M-v, M-w, and M-z,). A numerical method for determination of Mark-Houwink-Sakurada (MHS) equation constants, a and K, was tested with success for the PBA samples, and the influences of polydispersity correction factor (q(MHS)) on the relationships were studied for PBA with narrow MWD(1.065-1.181) and broad MWD (1.75-2.327). (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.