The Kuhn-Mark-Houwink-Sakurada Equation Coefficients in the Analysis of «Lithium» Polybutadiene Rubber Using the GPC Method With Express Mode

Abstract

The values ​​of the coefficients in the Kuhn–Mark–Houwink–Sakurada equation have been refined for solutions of industrial-grade «lithium» polybutadiene rubbers in toluene and tetrahydrofuran; these values ​​are subsequently used in processing GPC data based on universal calibration. The dissolution of the samples was carried out under accelerated conditions (2 hours instead of the usual 12–24 hours) using mechanical (stirring while shaking) and thermal (heating to 80 °C) effects. When selecting the Kuhn–Mark–Houwink–Sakurada coefficients, the results of GPC with conventional calibration were used as the «true» values of the average number‑average molecular weight and the width of the molecular weight distribution.