Relationship between Macromolecular Structure and Glass Transition Temperature

Abstract

The good relationship was shown to exist between the glass transition temperature (T_g), cohesive energy, and free volume for linear polymers with large pendant groups. From this relationship, a reliable simulation method based on a group contribution method was developed for predicting the T _g of unknown polymers having the moiety similar to known polymers. This method was found to be very successful for polyolefines having branched side chains as well as maleimide polymers. Furthermore, the relationship was also applied for predicting the melting point.