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Capillary Imbibition of Polymer Mixtures in Nanopores
journal contribution
posted on 2018-04-09, 18:52 authored by Yang Yao, Hans-Juergen Butt, Jiajia Zhou, Masao Doi, George FloudasCapillary imbibition of homogeneous
mixtures of entangled poly(ethylene oxide) melts in nanopores of self-ordered
nanoporous alumina follows a t1/2 dependence
but contradicts the classical Lucas–Washburn equation. Herein
we employ reflection microscopy and self-consistent field theory (SCFT)
calculations to demonstrate the faster penetration
of nanopores for the shorter chains. Combined results
suggest on average an ∼15% enrichment by the shorter chains.
On top of that, SCFT shows an enrichment of the short chains near
the pore surface. Possible applications in separating long and short
polymer chains by the difference in imbibition speedin the
absence of solventare discussed.