Effect of flexibility and polarity of polymer chains on the kinetics of their adsorption from solutions of polymer blends at various adsorbent-to-solution ratios

The kinetics of adsorption of cellulose acetate and poly(butyl methacrylate) with different thermodynamic flexibility parameters at various amounts of adsorbent in binary solutions of polymers and their blends has been studied by IR spectroscopy. For various stages of adsorption, the values of adsorption; the fraction of bound segments; the energy of adsorption interaction; and the diffusion coefficients of macromolecules, which characterize the rate of adsorption, are estimated in relation to the concentrations of solutions and adsorbent-to-solution ratios. The rate of attaining adsorption equilibrium is shown to depend on the polarity and flexibility of macromolecular chains. As the amount of adsorbent is increased, macromolecules of the flexible-chain polymer (poly(butyl methacrylate)) undergo more substantial conformational transformations than macromolecules of stiff-chain polymer (cellulose triacetate) during the formation of equilibrium conformations.