Liquid-liquid equilibria of polymer solutions: Applicability of extended Redlich-Kister expansion

We developed a simple and improved expression for the Helmholtz energy of mixing which uses a Taylor series of an exponential function based on extending the Redlich-Kister expansion. This model incorporates the chain-length dependence of polymers and specific interactions such as hydrogen bonds. The proposed model can accurately predict most phase diagrams of various binary polymer solutions including upper critical solution temperature (UCST). lower critical solution temperature (LSCT), both UCST and LCST, and closed miscibility loops. Our model fits experimental data of the complex phase behavior of polymer solutions well. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This work was supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) grant funded from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) of Korea for the Center for Next Generation Dye-sensitized Solar Cells (No. 2009-0063373)