| Abstract: | The adsorption of poly(vinyl acetate) from benzene solution onto cellulosic materials having various porous structures was measured in an attempt to investigate the role of the pore size distribution in the sorption process. The variety of cellulose porous structures was obtained by combinations of different swelling agents—water, ethylenediamine, sodium hydroxide solution—with different subsequent drying treatments. The pore structure analysis was based on benzene desorption isotherms. The porosity of cellulose is responsible for selective adsorption of the smaller macromolecules from an unfractionated polymer solution. The amount of sorbed polymer increases when the polymer solution contains a greater fraction of lower molecular weight polymer. Only the pores above a certain size are accessible to the polymer. The amount of polymer sorbed is proportional to the area of such pores but is otherwise independent of the effects produced by swelling pretreatments. |
