Dynamics of polymers in concentrated solutions: A weaker self-concentration effect

Left: The effective glass transition temperature of polystyrene (PS) in tricresyl phosphate (TCP) solutions measured by diverse techniques. The solid curve is the best fitting by the Fox equation with a self-concentration ϕself = 0, while the dashed curve is the fitting using a Lodge-McLeish predicted self-concentration ϕself = 0.27. Right: A cartoon illustrating that the space around a Kuhn segment is preferentially occupied by small molecule solvent rather than other polymers in polymer solutions. As a result, the interchain concentration ϕm is smaller than the global average concentration ϕave.210