# Correlating the Segmental Relaxation Time of Polystyrene

## TL;DR

This paper shows how the relaxation time of polystyrene changes with temperature using a combination of exponential and VFTH models.

## Contribution

A new composite correlation for the segmental relaxation time of polystyrene is developed without adjustable parameters.

## Key findings

- The equilibrium relaxation time shows exponential temperature dependence below 100 °C.
- A crossover temperature of 99.22 °C was identified where τeq = 92.15 s.
- The composite model accurately describes relaxation time data around the glass transition.

## Abstract

A previous related paper dealing with the density relaxation of polystyrene (PS) has shown that the equilibrium relaxation time (τeq) has a purely exponential temperature dependence (ETD) below ≈100 °C. Such an ETD is now also confirmed based upon available dielectric spectra data for PS. By combining the ETD behavior of τeq (or aT) at low temperatures with a VFTH behavior at higher temperatures (based mainly on available recoverable shear compliance data), a composite correlation for τeq (or aT) is developed, which is continuous with continuous slope at a crossover temperature that is found to be 99.22 °C, where τeq = 92.15 s. This composite representation is shown to describe (without any adjustable parameters) available independent data for the segmental relaxation time over a finite range both above and below Tcrossover (i.e., the glass transition temperature).