Self-diffusion in melts of statistical copolymers: The effect of changes in microstructural composition

We have used nuclear reaction analysis to measure diffusion coefficients D in couples consisting of hydrogenated polybutadienes of structure (C₂H₃(C₂H₅))_x(C₄H₈)_1?x and their partly deuterated counterparts. The 1,2- and 1,4-olefinic isomers are randomly distributed along the chains and the mean vinyl fraction x varies between 0.38 and 0.94. We find that the effective monomeric mobility D₀ defined by D = D₀(N_e/N²) for each copolymer, where N is the backbone length and N_e the entanglement spacing] decreases monotonically with increasing vinyl content x. Over the range of microstructures and temperatures T (?14?40°C) investigated we find log(D₀/T) varies smoothly with (T ? T_g), where T_g is the glass transition temperature of the respective melts. An analysis of our data in terms of a simple activated rate process model suggests that D₀ is controlled by thermally activated hopping of segments whose effective volume is close to that of the respective statistical segment lengths of the copolymeric chains. ©1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.