Glass Transitions of Ethylene Oxide Polymers

Abstract
Glass transition temperatures of a very wide molecular‐weight range of ethylene oxide polymers were measured by mechanical loss and by broadline NMR. Starting at about −95°C for ethylene glycol, the glass transition rises to a maximum of −17° for molecular weight 6000 and then drops off to −53° for polymers with molecular weights greater than 200 000. This unusual behavior is probably caused by the high crystallinity of the intermediate molecular‐weight polymers.