'IHERMOKIINElICS OF F'ORMA'I'IOIN OF ' ORDERED STRUCTURES IN POLYMER SOLUTIONS AND GELS

A general approach is proposed allowing the reduction to a 'common denomi-nator ' of different forms of formation of ordered structures in polymer—solvent systems. This 'common denominator ' results from the combination of the equivalence principle of thermokinetics and the concept of diphility of macro-molecules. In the first sections the discussion deals with a precise definition of order and with the foundation of the equivalence principle and related physical formalisms. It is shown that the consideration of any mode of structure formation can be reduced to the analysis of phase diagrams and free energy—temperature diagrams, the possibility of such reductions being connected with two main assumptions (supported by all known experimental data): (i) Due to inherent diphility the Flory—Huggins parameter Xi can change continuously or discontinuously with the concentration of components leading to the occurrence of preferential chain conformations or abrupt intramolecula