Mathematical modeling and experimental characterization of polymer dissolution

A new polymer dissolution model was developed by incorporating the polymer chain disentanglement mechanism into the relevant transport equations. The disentanglement time was used as a dissolution characteristic time controlling the moving position of the solvent-polymer boundary. A dimensionless dissolution number was defined as the ratio of the characteristic polymer disentanglement time to the characteristic solvent diffusion time. The dissolution number was shown to be proportional to the square of the gel layer thickness. Scaling law expressions for the dependence of the gel layer thickness and the polymer dissolution rate on polymer molecular weight were also derived