Refined Continuous Thermodynamic Treatment for the Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium of Copolymer Solutions

Based on an improved calculation of activity coefficients, continuous thermodynamics using a generalized divariate Stockmayer distribution is applied to the liquid-liquid equilibrium of random copolymer solutions. The effects of the chemical polydispersity on the cloud-point curve, the shadow curve, the spinodal, and the critical point are discussed. The theory can account for the occurrence of three-phase equilibria as well as for the phase separation in pure copolymers.