Objective:
To determine the average molar mass of polyvinyl alcohol polymer (PVA) by
measuring the viscosity of solutions of the water-soluble polymer.
Introduction:
Viscosity is the ability of liquids to flow and overcome the internal frictions that
occur and exist between liquid layers.
Where
direction.
The flow time therefore will be inversely proportional to the density of the
liquid and proportional to the viscosity of the liquid.
(g/mol) of the polymer. Applying the upper equation, where, 1 and o are the
viscosity of PVA solution and water, respectively. t1 and t2 are viscometer flow
times for equal volumes of water or PVA solution. 1 and o are the densities of
PVA solution and water, respectively at room temperature.
the
When we plot the reduced viscosity red vs. the PVA concentration,
and extrapolate to C = 0, we find the intrinsic viscosity []:
[] = lim(red)C0
Finally, we use the Mark-Houwink-Sakuraka (MHS) equation to relate
the intrinsic [] to the molar mass of the polymer solute M:
Results:
Concentratio
Mass of
Mass of
Mass of
Mass of
p1 =
PVA
empty
solution +
solution
(w1\w0)p0
viscomete
viscomete
water
0.9982
0.5%
10g
0.9987
1.0%
20g
1.0007
1.5%
30g
1.0011
2.0%
40g
1.0019
2.5%
50g
1.0027
C g\dL
P (g\mL)
t(s)
sp
red(dL/g
)
mPa.s
water
0.9982
10
1.020
0.5%
0.9987
12
1.220
0.1961
0.3922
1.0%
1.0007
14
1.432
0.4039
0.4039
1.5%
1.0011
17
1.739
0.7190
0.4793
2.0%
1.0019
20
2.048
1.028
0.5140
2.5%
1.0027
33
3.381
2.315
0.9260
By plot
vs concentration using Excel program, we
get the following figures:
0.3372
Conclusion:
The average molecular mass of a polymer can be
measured by the viscosity properties of the polymer,
the last sample is neglected from the last calculation,
because it appear far from the trend line, to know
exactly if this point must be rejected or not, a detailed
statistical analysis should be done.
The average of the polymer is large value as expected.