Separation of Polymers by Solvent Fractionation.

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Title Separation of polymers by solvent fractionation. Objectives 1) To understand the concept of polymer solubility and fractionation and its related parameters 2) To expose to waste polymers which are also polluting agents, e.g. plastics and rubber Apparatus 1) Whatman filter paper 2) Beaker 3) Glass rod stirrer 4) Electric heater 5) Buchner funnel Materials 1) Toluene 2) Methanol 3) Calcium chloride 4) Ethanol 5) Mixture of PVC [poly(vinyl chloride)], LDPE [low density poly(ethylene)], PMMA [poly(methyl methacrylate)] and PS [poly(styrene)] Results Table 1: Weight of products | LDPE | PVC | PS | PMMA | Weight of filter paper + product (g) | 0.8401 | 1.2549 | 0.6169 | 0.3379 | Weight of filter paper (g) | 0.3307 | 0.3342 | 0.3716 | 0.3247 | Weight of product (g) | 0.5094 | 0.5207 | 0.2453 | 0.0132 | Table 2: Percentage yield of polymer compared to the initial mass used: Polymer | % Yield | PVC | Theoretical mass used = 0.5gExperimental mass obtained = 0.5207g% yield = Experimental yieldTheoretical yield×100% = 104.14% | LDPE | Theoretical mass used = 0.5gExperimental mass obtained = 0.5094g% yield = Experimental yieldTheoretical yield×100% = 101.88% | PS | Theoretical mass used = 0.5gExperimental mass obtained = 0.2453g% yield = Experimental yieldTheoretical yield×100% = 49.06% | PMMA | Theoretical mass used = 0.5gExperimental mass obtained = 0.0132 g% yield = Experimental yieldTheoretical yield×100% = 2.64% | Questions 1) By using Smalls equation, calculate the polymer solubility parameter, δ_2 for PVC, LDPE, PS and PMMA using the equation below: δ2=ΣEV=ρΣEM Table 3: Polymer | Density (g/cm3) | Molar mass (g/mol) | ΣE (J1/2cm3/2mol-1) | δ2 (J1/2 /cm3/2) | PVC | 1.39 | 62.4986 | 870 | 19.35
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