Interaction of crosslinked polyethylenimine with a homologous series of methyl orange derivatives in aqueous solution

Polyethylenimine (PEI) was crosslinked with dichloroethane, glyoxal, or glutaraldehyde and polymers of various degrees of crosslinkage were made. The insoluble polymers obtained were examined for their ability to bind methyl orange and its homologs, methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl orange at 5, 15, 25, and 35°C, respectively, in an aqueous solution. PEI crosslinked with glutaraldehyde showed markedly increased binding affinity toward these cosolutes compared with the polymers crosslinked with dichloroethane or glyoxal. The extent of the binding increased with an increase in the degree of crosslinkage. These results suggest that the enhancement of the binding by the crosslinking is due mainly to a dual effect, introduction of hydrophobic moieties and proximity of neighboring polymer chains. The first binding constants and the thermodynamic parameters that accompanied the binding were calculated. The thermodynamic data show that the binding process is athermal and is stabilized entirely by the entropy term. Water-soluble PEI exhibited stronger cooperative interactions than the crosslinked polymer because the mobilities of the chains of the former are greater than those of the latter.