Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol.33, No.11, 1621-1626, 1995
Coagulation of Poly(P-Phenylene Benzobisoxazole) in Polyphosphoric Acid Using Aqueous and Nonaqueous Solutions
Diffusion of aqueous and nonaqueous coagulants into lyotropic/nematic solutions of poly(phenylene benzobisoxazole) in polyphosphoric acid using fluorescence microscopy is reported. The fluorescence microscopy technique offers advantages in that the experiment is independent of the coagulant and the experiments can be performed in a front surface mode so that optically thin samples are not required. The diffusion process is modeled as Case II diffusion as described by Crank and Park. The apparent diffusion coefficients are found to range from similar to 2 X 10(-6) cm(2)/s to similar to 2 X 10(-7) cm(2)/s for aqueous and nonaqueous coagulants. The apparent diffusion coefficients can be varied by several orders of magnitude (e.g., down to similar to 3 X 10(-10) cm(2)/s) by varying the concentration of polyphosphoric acid in the coagulant.
Keywords:POLYMERS