Interactions water-soluble polymers

HEC is generally compatible with other ceUulosic water-soluble polymers to give clear, homogeneous solutions. When mixed with an anionic polymer such as CMC, however, interactions between the two polymers may result in synergistic behavior, ie, viscosities higher than predicted and calculated. HEC has excellent compatibiUty with natural gums. 

VI. MECHANISM OF INTERACTION OF WATER-SOLUBLE POLYMERS WITH IONS IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION... 

The qualitative thermodynamic explanation of the shielding effect produced by the bound neutral water-soluble polymers was summarized by Andrade et al. [2] who studied the interaction of blood with polyethylene oxide (PEO) attached to the surfaces of solids. According to their concept, one possible component of the passivity may be the low interfacial free energy (ysl) of water-soluble polymers and their gels. As estimated by Matsunaga and Ikada [3], it is 3.7 and 3.1 mJ/m2 for cellulose and polyvinylalcohol whereas 52.6 and 41.9 mJ/m2 for polyethylene and Nylon 11, respectively. Ikada et al. [4] also found that adsorption of serum albumin increases dramatically with the increase of interfacial free energy of the polymer contacting the protein solution. 

It has been outlined by several authors that the single macromolecule may be irreversibly bound because of the large number of weakly interacting segments. The first papers on the construction of polymer-coated silica adsorbents involved the physical adsorption of water-soluble polymers. Polyethylene oxides [28, 29] and poly-/V-vinylpyrrolidone [30] are examples of the stationary phases of this type. 

In the case of water-soluble polymers, there is another factor that has to be taken into account when considering solubility, namely the possibility of hydrophobic interactions. If we consider a polymer, even one that is soluble in water, we notice that it is made up of two types of chemical species, the polar functional groups and the non-polar backbone. Typically, polymers have an organic backbone that consists of C—C chains with the majority of valence sites on the carbon atoms occupied by hydrogen atoms. In other words, this kind of polymer partially exhibits the nature of a hydrocarbon, and as such resists dissolution in water. 

Hydrophobic interactions of this kind have been assumed to originate because the attempt to dissolve the hydrocarbon component causes the development of cage structures of hydrogen-bonded water molecules around the non-polar solute. This increase in the regularity of the solvent would result in an overall reduction in entropy of the system, and therefore is not favoured. Hydrophobic effects of this kind are significant in solutions of all water-soluble polymers except poly(acrylic acid) and poly(acrylamide), where large heats of solution of the polar groups swamp the effect. 

The hydrophobic interaction results in the existence of a lower critical solution temperature and in the striking result that raising the temperature reduces the solubility, as can be seen in liquid-liquid phase diagrams (see Figure 5.2a). In general, the solution behaviour of water-soluble polymers... 

The addition of water-soluble polymers, namely, polyoxyethylene glycol, polyacrylamide, and polyvinyl alcohol, to water/AOT/alcohol/decane w/o microemulsions decreases the intermicellar attractive interactions [190],... 

Robb, I. D. (1983). Polymer-small molecule interactions. In Finch, C. A. (ed.) Chemistry and Technology of Water Soluble Polymers. New York Plenum Press. 

Water-soluble polymers in general, and especially polyelectrolytes, are often difficult due to their specific and long range electrostatic interactions, which complicate all analytical techniques that rely on single particle properties that are usually realized by high dilution. In most cases the ionic strength of the solution must be increased by the addition of salt in order to screen electrostatic forces. Ideally, SEC separation is predominantly governed by entropic interactions,... 

A class of systems extensively investigated by means of PFG-NMR are colloids. They are usually hydrophobically modified water-soluble polymers, that is, polymers with a water-soluble skeleton bearing one or more hydrophobic units, which allow the self-assembling of the polymer in water solution and the interaction with surfactants.77... 

The behaviour of ternary systems consisting of two polymers and a solvent depends largely on the nature of interactions between components (1-4). Two types of limiting behaviour can be observed. The first one occurs in non-polar systems, where polymer-polymer interactions are very low. In such systems a liquid-liquid phase separation is usually observed each liquid phase contains almost the total quantity of one polymer species. The second type of behaviour often occurs in aqueous polymer solutions. The polar or ionic water-soluble polymers can interact to form macromolecular aggregates, occasionally insoluble, called "polymer complexes". Examples are polyanion-polycation couples stabilized through electrostatic interactions, or polyacid-polybase couples stabilized through hydrogen bonds. 

There are a number of different enthalpic interactions that can occur between polymer and packing, and in many cases multiple interactions can exist depending on the chemical structure of the polymer. Enthalpic interactions that are related to water-soluble polymers include ion exchange, ion inclusion, ion exclusion, hydrophobic interactions, and hydrogen bonding (12)- Other types of interactions commonly encountered in SEC, as well as in all other chromatographic separations, are dispersion (London) forces, dipole interactions (Keeson and Debye forces), and electron-donor-acceptor interactions (20). 

The dispersion effect of water-soluble polymers on a heme aggregate is mentioned below. However, these water-soluble polymers have no coordinating ability and are not polymer ligands. It is well known that heme and its complexes easily aggregate in aqueous solution by stacking interaction, and that stable monomeric dispersed heme complexes are formed under restricted conditions such as extremely low concentration and low ionic strength21,22 ... 

Binding behavior of transition metal ions with polyallylamine20), poly(e-A-methacryloyl-L-lysine)2,), branched poly(ethyleneimine)s 22), water soluble polymer-bound iminodiacetic acid analogue 23), and polyacrylamide gel 241 has been reported. In these works, the effect of the polymer backbone has been discussed in terms of interaction of metal ions with the polymer chains. 

In aqueous solutions of Cm-(EO)n amphiphilic molecules, two interesting features are observed. First, isotropic micellar solutions undergo phase separation on heating. Such behavior is typical of hydrophobic interaction and is also observed for several water-soluble polymers. Hydrophobic interaction results from a change of order in the water structure [54]. Second, at high concentration, liquid crystalline phase behavior is observed with several structures [55]. 

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