Enthalpy and entropy of fusion and the equilibrium melting point of polyethylene oxide

Abstract

The model developed by Flory and Vrij ⁸ to account for the dependence of melting point on chain ength of linear chain homologues has been extended and applied to polyethylene oxide polymers with molecular weights in the range 200–4000. Enthalpy and entropy of fusion are described in terms of the number of monomer repeat units in the chain. The equilibrium melting point of a fully extended infinite chain crystal, T^°_m, was determined as 348 ± 3 K and enthalpy of fusion 9500 ± 100 J (monomer mol)^–1.