A Study of Changes in Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) (pMMA) Resulting from the Adsorption of Methanol using NMR Imaging

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe understanding of the adsorption of solvents into materials is of great interest in different fields of material science. NMR imaging techniques can be used to follow the process of solvent adsorption by obtaining spatial and chemical information in a nondestructive way. We report here a study of the uptake of methanol (a non-solvent) into poly(methyl methacrylate) beads produced by suspension polymerization and into compression mouldings. In both cases, the uptake is far faster than the rate of diffusion measured elsewhere. We also illustrate the nonreversible nature of this uptake with respect to temperature cycling.