Volumetric study of aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) from 283.15 to 313.15 K and at 0.1 MPa

Density measurements of binary aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene glycol), with a nominal average molecular weight of 6000, were used to determine the specific volumes of the solutions with solute‐to‐solvent mass ratios (mass of the solute/mass of the solvent) of 0.0483–0.5493 and at seven different temperatures (283.15, 285.15, 293.15, 298.15, 303.15, 308.15, and 313.15 K). The difference between the specific volume of a solution and the specific volume of a pure solvent, at a given temperature, was expanded by a virial‐type equation, in terms of the solute concentration. The first‐order coefficient was the partial specific volume of a solute at infinite dilution. The higher order coefficients corresponded to the contribution of pairs, triplets, and higher order solute aggregates according to the constant‐pressure theory of solutions. The functional dependence of the virial coefficients on the temperature was examined in terms of solute–solute and solute–solvent interactions. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 2685–2689, 2004