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Article: Thermodynamic characterization of interpenetrating polymer networks.
- Article from:
- Polymer Engineering and Science
- Article date:
- April 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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INTRODUCTION
Originally, interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) were conceived as chemically homogeneous (on a sufficiently large structural scale), binary systems that could be conveniently prepared by swelling the first loosely crosslinked component in a suitably chosen monomer and subsequent crosslinking of the latter (1, 2). Conceptually, this procedure of "chemical" blending might avoid the eventual phase separation that is typical of "physical" blending of linear polymers (3, 4), a result of topological constraints (permanently entangled, chemically different macrocycles) on IPN unmixing (5, 6). However, it was realized fairly soon that the overwhelming ...
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