Abstract
Micellar solutions of polystyrene-block-polybutadiene and polystyrene-block-polyisoprene in propane are found to exhibit significantly lower cloud pressures than the corresponding hypothetical non-micellar solutions. Such a cloud-pressure reduction indicates the extent to which micelle formation enhances the apparent diblock solubility in near-critical and hence compressible propane. Pressure-temperature points beyond which no micelles can be formed, referred to as the micellization end points, are found to depend on the block type, size and ratio, and on the polymer concentration. For a given pressure, the micellization end-point temperature corresponds to the "critical micelle temperature." The cloud-pressure reduction and the micellization end point measured for styrene-diene diblocks in propane should be characteristic of all amphiphilic diblock copolymer solutions that form micelles in compressible solvents.