Sorption studies that reflect sequential physical changes in polymer‐liquid systems from saturation to virtual dryness in a glassy state

Abstract

The changes in macromolecular architecture that occur sequentially when a polymer is allowed to swell to saturation in a test‐liquid and then evaporated from its gel‐saturated state through its rubbery transition and finally down to a glassy state at virtual dryness are described in detail. The influence of molecular structure of the sorbed liquid and temperature on the kinetics of evaporation during each part of the above cycle is discussed. The relevance of these results with respect to the models proposed by polymer physicists to describe thermoreversible gelation and polymer relaxation in the glassy state is also discussed.