Glass-Transition Temperature (Tg) of Free-Radically Prepared Polyacrylonitrile by Inverse Gas Chromatography, 2. Molecular-Weight Dependence of Tg of Two Different Types of Aqueous Polymers

The molecular‐weight dependence of the glass‐transition temperature (Tg) of a series of atactic polyacrylonitriles (PAN)s was studied by inverse gas chromatographic (IGC) analysis. PANs having different molecular weights were prepared by either; (i) the addition of isopropyl alcohol as a chain‐transfer agent, or (ii) a scission reaction induced by the addition of alkali (NaOH) to a solution (N,N‐dimethylformamide solution, at 25 °C) of the resulting polymer. The intrinsic viscosity [η] was in the range of 10.9–0.1 (dl · g−1), which corresponds to a viscosity‐averaged molecular weight (Mv) of 1 590 000–3 000. As part of the results, a side reaction, which saw the conversion of the nitrile (CN) groups of PAN into amide (CONH2) and/or carboxylic acids (COOH) groups by alkali, was found to occur. The typical molecular‐weight dependence of the Tg in free‐radically prepared PAN was discussed in connection with a chain‐transfer mechanism in an aqueous medium. Molecular‐weight dependence of the Tg for PAN (WA). An error bar is given by a short vertical arrow.