| Abstract: | It is extremely important to predict infinite dilution solvent activity coefficients in rubbery polymers in design and operation of polymer‐related processes. Many models have been developed to predict the activity coefficients. However, the accuracies of these models are not satisfactory. This article advances a method for predicting the infinite solvent dilution activity coefficients in the rubbery polymers, using the Engaged Species Induced Clustering (ENSIC) model. It elucidates the physiochemical significance and mathematical meaning of the parameters in the ENSIC model. In this article, the ENSIC approach has been proven to agree extremely well with the experimental data in both correlating the finite dilution solvent activity coefficient and predicting the infinite dilution solvent activity coefficient for rubbery polymer/solvent systems. In other words, both the ENSIC equation and its derivative at extremely low solvent concentration are in good agreement with the experimental data. In addition, the article indicates that the ENSIC model is much more accurate than another kind of empirical models‐ the F–H and related models in predicting the infinite dilution solvent activity coefficients in polymer solutions. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1668–1675, 2006 |
