Effect of concentration of the crosslinking agent and diluent during polymerization on the viscoelastic spectra of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) networks

The effect of concentration of the crosslinking agent (ethylene dimethacrylate) and diluent (water) during the crosslinking copolymerization on the shape and position of retardation spectra in the dry state has been investigated for poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) networks. With increasing water content during network formation, the maxima of the retardation spectra, L_m, increase and the position of the spectra is shifted toward shorter retardation times, τ. The results are in quantitative agreement with the modified Rouse–Mooney (R–M) molecular theory and suggest the influence of deformation due to the diluent during network formation on the viscoelastic behavior. With increasing content of the crosslinking agent, the retardation spectra are shifted toward longer times. At a constant reference temperature T₀ = 115°C the retardation time, τ_m, at the maxima of the spectra increases with increasing content of effective chains in the network, ν_e. However, after a correction for the effect of the monomeric frictional coefficient, ξ, τ_m/ξ decreases with increasing v_e at a rate which agrees quantitatively with the R–M theory. The slope of the retardation spectra in the main transition region and the value of their maxima decrease with increasing v_e; a comparison of these dependences with theory leads to the most probable distribution of submolecules in the chains. The contribution of long retardation times to the equilibrium compliance, J_e, of the systems under investigation was estimated; it was shown that the application of the Thirion–Chasset extrapolation method for the determination of J_e of loose networks requires a certain type of dependence of the retardation or relaxation spectra on τ.