Preferential solvation of a dicyanate ester monomer and poly(sulfone) in different organic solvents by size-exclusion chromatography

Preferential solvation parameters λ in the ternary systems solvent (1) –monomer (2) –polymer (3) were determined as a tool to measure the compatibility between the cyanate ester monomer Arocy B10 and poly(sulfone), PSF, in the presence of three organic solvents: tetrahydrofuran, dimethylformamide and dicloromethane. The λ parameter was measured by size-exclusion chromatography at different monomer-to-polymer ratios. The quantitative evaluation was rigorously made at polymer-diluted conditions. PSF was found to be preferentially solvated by the monomer. Concerning the solvent used, systems containing tetrahydrofuran showed the strongest solvation, the lowest λ values being those obtained in dicloromethane. These results were in accordance with the intrinsic viscosity values of the PSF–solvent systems. The variation of λ values with the Arocy B10 concentration is strongly dependent upon the nature of the solvent.