Molecular weight scaling in critical polymer mixtures

Symmetric binary mixtures of partially deuterated polymers were prepared at the critical composition. The segment-segment interaction energy parameter chi(eff) was varied by adjusting the difference in deuterium content DELTA-X(D) between species. Chi(eff) was measured as a function of temperature, DELTA-X(D), and molecular weight by small-angle neutron scattering.

The critical point for demixing was determined to scale as chi(eff,c) is similar to N(-delta) with delta = 1.01 +/- 0.05, where N is the degree of polymerization. This result confirms the mean-field prediction of Flory and Huggins.