Determination of the Supramolecular Structure of Fluorocopolymer by Inverse Gas Chromatography

The molecular organization of ethylene copolymers with perfluorinated ethers is studied by inverse gas chromatography. The thermodynamic parameters of sorption of low-molecular-weight sorbates by the copolymers (the activity coefficient, partial molar mixing values) are calculated in a wide temperature range. Influence of the architecture of copolymer chains on the sorption parameters of their thin films is studied. It is shown that, despite the alternating distribution of monomers along copolymer macrochains, methylene groups form hydrocarbon clusters in a perfluorinated dispersion medium. The microheterogeneous structure of the studied copolymers is responsible for the permeability of copolymer thin films to low-molecular-weight liquid sorbates (both solvents and nonsolvents). It is suggested that the copolymers of this type are promising for use in the field of membrane technologies.