Issue 9, 2016

The pH-responsive behaviour of poly(acrylic acid) in aqueous solution is dependent on molar mass

Abstract

Fluorescence spectroscopy on a series of aqueous solutions of poly(acrylic acid) containing a luminescent label showed that polymers with molar mass, Mn < 16.5 kDa did not exhibit a pH responsive conformational change, which is typical of higher molar mass poly(acrylic acid). Below this molar mass, polymers remained in an extended conformation, regardless of pH. Above this molar mass, a pH-dependent conformational change was observed. Diffusion-ordered nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy confirmed that low molar mass polymers did not undergo a conformational transition, although large molar mass polymers did exhibit pH-dependent diffusion.

Graphical abstract: The pH-responsive behaviour of poly(acrylic acid) in aqueous solution is dependent on molar mass

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Nov 2015
Accepted
21 Jan 2016
First published
29 Jan 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Soft Matter, 2016,12, 2542-2549

The pH-responsive behaviour of poly(acrylic acid) in aqueous solution is dependent on molar mass

T. Swift, L. Swanson, M. Geoghegan and S. Rimmer, Soft Matter, 2016, 12, 2542 DOI: 10.1039/C5SM02693H

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