Swelling of hydrophobically modified poly(acrylamide) and poly(acrylamide)-co-(acrylic acid) gels in surfactant solutions

A series of hydrophobically modified polyacrylamide and polyacrylamide-co-poly(acrylic acid) gels with systematically varying hydrophobicity were prepared by free-radical polymerization of acrylamide, n-alkylacrylamides (n = 10, 12, and 14), and acrylic acid. The swelling of these gels was examined in water and in both anionic and cationic surfactant solutions. It was found that the gels which incorporated acrylic acid showed extremely high swelling in water. Maximum swelling was observed in gels which incorporated 10 mol% acrylic acid. The swelling of these gels was much less in solutions of both anionic and cationic surfactants than in water. The gels which did not incorporate acrylic acid demonstrated little swelling in water, but showed increased swelling in both anionic and cationic surfactant solutions with increased hydrophobicity of the gel. Received: 1 February 1999 Accepted in revised form: 5 March 1999     

Adsorption of hydrophobically modified poly(acrylamide)-co-(acrylic acid) on an amino-functionalized surface and its response to the external solvent environment

The adsorption of hydrophobically modified poly(acrylamide)-co-(acrylic acid), designated as PAM-C14-AA (x%) (x = 5, 10, 20, representing the mole percent of acrylic acid units), at an amino-functionalized silicon surface was studied. The effect of polymer charge density was determined by varying the acrylic acid content of the copolymer. Characteristics of the adsorbed layer were evaluated by atomic force microscopy, water contact angle measurements, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results showed that the adsorption behavior of PAM-C14-AA (x%) is influenced by the balance among the electrostatic, hydrogen-bonding, and hydrophobic interactions. Adjusting the solution pH and polymer charge density significantly affects the morphology and thickness of the adsorbed film. Furthermore, it was found that the adsorbed PAM-C14-AA undergoes conformational rearrangements when the surface is wetted by selected organic solvents. The resultant morphology and wettability of the films indicated that the different affinities of the solvents for different segments of PAM-C14-AA (x%) can be considered to be the possible cause of the conformational rearrangements of adsorbed polymer.     

疏水改性聚丙烯酸溶液的流变特性研究

本文通过沉淀聚合制备了具有不同主链结构的疏水改性聚丙烯酸(HMPA),由Huggins方程确定了HMPA在溶液(水,盐/水,醇/水)中的特性粘数[η]和Huggins常数KH,采用流变学法研究了HMPA溶液的疏水缔合行为和流变特性.研究表明,HMPA溶液具有典型的剪切变稀行为,主链结构对HMPA溶液的缔合行为和流变特性有显著影响.主链含有疏水链段的HMPA在乙二醇/水溶液中形成类似弹性体的凝胶网络结构,具有较大的活化能,其表观粘度具有明显的温度敏感性.     

Tripolyphosphate-sensitive egg phosphatidylcholine liposomes incorporating hydrophobically modified poly(ethylene imine)

Liposomes, which release their contents in answer to tripolyphosphate (TPP, a penta-anion), were prepared by immobilizing hydrophobically modified poly(ethylene imine) (HmPEI) on the surface of egg phosphatidylcholine (egg PC) liposome. HmPEI was prepared by covalently attaching decanoyl chloride to PEI through a condensation reaction. According to the ¹H NMR spectrum, the number of decanoyl chloride per one molecule of PEI was about 21, and HmPEI was air/water interface-active. HmPEI could readily complex with TPP in HEPES buffer (30 mM, pH 7.0), confirmed by Fourier transformed infrared spectrophotometer spectroscopy. The complexation increased with increasing the concentration of HmPEI and TPP, investigated through the measurement of optical density and light scattering intensity. Liposomes incorporating HmPEI were prepared by a film hydration and sonication method. The liposomes were multi-lamellar vesicles, observed on transmission electron microscope. Liposomes free of HmPEI did not release calcien when they were mixed with TPP. Liposomes whose egg PC/HmPEI was relatively low (e.g., 20:1 and 20:2) released calcein but not extensively (less than 10%) when mixed with TPP. Liposomes whose egg PC/HmPEI was relatively high (e.g., 20:4 and 20:20) released calcein extensively. For example, when the liposomes with lager amount of HmPEI were mixed with TPP so that HmPEI/TPP weight ratio was 8:1, the release degree in 60 sec was more than 70%. HmPEI can complex with TPP through electrostatic interaction and the complexation was thought to cause perturbation in the liposomal membranes and trigger the release.     

Dynamics and energetics of the self-assembly of a hydrophobically modified polyelectrolyte: Naphthalene-labeled poly(acrylic acid)

Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence studies were performed on aqueous solutions of poly(acrylic acid) hydrophobically modified with two very different levels of naphthalene (Np). It is demonstrated that unique information on association phenomena involving hydrophobe-modifed polymers can be obtained from an extended fluorescence study by using data for a less-modified polymer as a reference. For the more highly modified polymer, the presence of excited-state (as well as ground-state) dimers in addition to monomer emission due to locally excited naphthalene gives evidence for hydrophobic association between naphthalene groups. This association becomes, as expected, much less important at higher pH due to the electrostatic repulsion between different chain segments. However, it is noted that even at high pH there is a significant self-association. The coexistence of static and dynamic quenching phenomena of the Np monomer label was also revealed in the time-resolved fluorescence data. The data are compatible with the existence of two types of monomers and one excimer and suggest that the essential contribution to the monomer emission comes from isolated chromophores, whereas excimer formation arises from both a dynamic route (excited Np chromophores able to produce a dynamic excimer) and a static route (excitation of ground-state Np dimers). At room temperature, the dissociative reaction, excimer-to-monomer, can be neglected, and thus the rate constant for excimer formation and decay could be obtained with and without considering the influence of preformed dimers. Temperature has shown to induce different behavior in the polymer photophysics. In the case of the less-labeled polymer, the decays were found to be single-exponential with the fluorescence lifetime decreasing with increasing temperature. From the temperature dependence of the steady-state fluorescence data, the activation energy for excimer formation and the binding energy of the excimer were evaluated at different pH values, through the Stevens-Ban-type plots of the excimer-to-monomer intensity ratio. With the time-resolved data, measured in the temperature range of 5-60 degrees C, it was possible to extract the intrinsic activation energies for excimer formation. The thermodynamic driving force for the intrapolymeric association was found to be dependent on a balance between hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions, which are dependent on the pH, temperature, and hydrophobic content of the polymer.     

Fluorescence and viscometry study of complexation of poly(acrylic acid) with poly(acrylamide) and hydrolysed poly(acrylamide)

Interpolymer complexation of poly(acrylic acid) with poly(acrylamide) and hydrolysed poly(acrylamide) was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and viscometry in dilute aqueous solutions. Changes in chain conformation and flexibility due to the interpolymer association are reflected in the intramolecular excimer fluorescence of pyrene groups covalently attached to the polymer chain. Both poly(acrylamide) and hydrolysed poly(acrylamide) form stable complexes with poly(acrylic acid) at low pH. The molecular weight of poly(acrylic acid) and solution properties such as pH and ionic strength were found to influence the stability and the structure of the complexes. In addition, the polymer solutions mixing time showed an effect on the mean stoichiometry of the complex. The intrinsic viscosity of the solutions of mixed polymers at low pH suggested a compact polymer structure for the complex.     

Hydrophobicity of fluoro‐containing physical crosslinkage domains in hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acid) gels

A series of hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acid) gels were prepared by the radical copolymerization of acrylic acid and small amounts of hydrophobic comonomers, 2‐(N‐ethylperfluorooctane‐sulfoamido)ethyl methacrylate and lauryl acrylate, in tert‐butanol. The effects of the fractions and species of hydrophobes on hydrophobic association were determined. The hydrophobic association within the hydrophobically modified gels was proven with measurements of swelling and fluorescence as well as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Fluorocarbon‐modified hydrogels showed stronger hydrophobicity than hydrocarbon‐modified hydrogels. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1236–1244, 2002     

Self-assembly of a hydrophobically modified naphthalene-labeled poly(acrylic acid) polyelectrolyte in water: organic solvent mixtures followed by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence

The solution properties of two water-soluble polymers, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), covalently labeled with the fluorescent hydrophobic dye naphthalene (Np), have been investigated in water:organic solvent mixtures. The naphthalene chromophores have been randomly attached, onto the polymer, with two different degrees of labeling. Fluorescence measurements (steady-state and time-resolved) have been used to follow the photophysical behavior of the polymers and consequently report on the self-association of the polymers in the mixed organic (methanol or dioxane):aqueous solutions. The emission spectra of the high-labeled Np PAA reveal the presence of monomer and excimer bands whereas with the low-labeled polymer only monomer emission is observed. The excitation spectra collected at the monomer and excimer emission bands show significant differences, depending on the water content of the mixture, which indicate the simultaneous presence of preformed and dynamic dimers as routes to excimer formation. The time-resolved data decay profiles of the high-labeled polymer in the mixtures were always triple exponential whereas in pure methanol and dioxane they follow biexponential laws. The data in the mixtures are consistent with two types of monomers and one excimer. Both monomers are able to give rise to excimer in the excited state, one type involving the movement of long distant Np chromophores and the other involving a local reorientation of adjacent Np chromophores. These correspond to different decay times: (1) a long which corresponds to the long distant approach of non-neighboring Np chromophores forming an excimer and (2) a short corresponding to the fast adjustment of two neighboring Np chromophores in order to have the adequate parallel geometry. An additional decay time corresponding to the excimer decay was found to be present at all wavelengths. All the decay times were dependent on the water content of the mixture. An estimation of the two excimer forming rate constants values is made for the mixed media considered in this work. On the whole, using both steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence parameters, and by comparing data for a polymer with a small number of hydrophobes with a more highly modified one, it is possible in great detail to demonstrate how association is controlled by solvent quality for the hydrophobes and by the distance between hydrophobes.     

Synthesis and interfacial properties of a novel inverse demulsifier of nanosized poly[(methyl methacrylate)-co-(ethyl acrylate)-co-(methacrylic acid)-co-(acrylamide)] latex

An acrylic emulsion-type inverse demulsifier (named as PMEMA latex) was prepared by using methyl methacrylate (MMA), ethyl acrylate (EA), methacrylic acid (MAA), and acrylamide (AM) as monomers. The effects of reaction conditions toward the copolymerization results were investigated by evaluating various evaluation parameters, including conversion, molecular weight, and diameter. In addition, the interfacial properties of PMEMA latex were investigated to study its demulsification mechanism about treating the O/W emulsion.     

Dynamics of short as compared with long poly(acrylic acid) chains hydrophobically modified with pyrene, as followed by fluorescence techniques

New low and high molecular weight poly(acrylic acid), PAA, 2000 g mol(-1) and 450,000 g mol(-1), respectively, were tagged with pyrene (low and high contents of probe) and its behaviour in solution was investigated using absorption and fluorescence (steady-state and time-resolved) techniques. Fluorescence data shows that the degree and level of intramolecular association strongly depends on the molecular weight. With the short pyrene-labeled PAA chains in aqueous solution, the excimer-to-monomer fluorescence ratio I(E)/I(M) decreases with the increase of pH, oppositely to the increase in the I(E)/I(M) ratio with the increase in pH previously observed with the long chain PAA. Time-resolved data suggest that excimer formation with the short pyrene-labeled PAA polymers (ca. 28 acrylic acid monomers per chain) in water is largely due to excitation of Ground State Dimers, GSD. The increment of pH, and the consequent gradual ionization of the carboxylic groups in the chain, initially increases the fraction of GSD, possibly due to the occurrence of special micelle-like chain conformations, inside which the pyrene units are accommodated. A further increase of the pH above the pK(a) values, resulting in the full ionization of carboxylic groups, apparently destabilizes such chain conformations, which leads to a pH effect on the photophysical properties identical to that of the long chain polymers. In water, the dynamic data shows the existence of two excimers coexisting with two monomer classes. In methanol and dioxane (good solvents for the pyrene probe) at room temperature, where one excimer and two monomers are present, all rate constants could be obtained, as well as the fractions of ground-state species. It is thus shown that different types of interactions are produced with small- and long-sized PAA polymers, i.e., the size of the polymer matters.     

Effects of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) on the solution properties of hydrophobically modified acrylamide copolymer

The hydrophobic interaction between hydrophobically modified acrylamide copolymer (HMPAM) and poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) in aqueous solutions was investigated. The results show that the solution properties of HMPAM are significantly influenced by the addition of PNIPAM. In dilute regime, the intrinsic viscosity of HMPAM in 0.025 wt % PNIPAM/0.1 M NaCl mixed solution is 17.52 dL g^?1, about 2 times 8.66 dL g^?1, that in 0.1 M NaCl solution, which is due to the attractive interaction between the hydrophobic parts of PNIPAM and HMPAM molecules. In semidilute regime, below the saturation concentration, the addition of PNIPAM can lead to both the apparent viscosity and the modulus of HMPAM solutions increasing, which is attributed to the number of aggregation junctions increasing, responsible for the increase of the contribution of the reversible network to the viscosity increase, the β value. In addition, a thermothickening behavior for the HMPAM/PNIPAM mixed solution is observed with increasing temperature over 15–30 °C, which is consistent with the large increase of the Huggins coefficient of HMPAM in the presence of PNIPAM from 1.95 to 7.59 as temperature increases from 25 to 30 °C. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 709–715, 2005     

Association and phase behavior of hydrophobically modified photoresponsive poly(acrylamide)s in the presence of ionic surfactant

 The extent of association between the cationic surfactant TTAB and a series of hydrophobically modified polyacrylamides (HPAMs) containing an N-n-alkyl and substituted azobenzene hydrophobic sidegroup has been studied utilizing a cationic surfactant-selective membrane electrode. Binding of TTAB to the polymer hydrophobes is found to increase with increasing hydrophobicity of the hydrophobe. In the presence of electrolyte, aqueous solutions of HPAMs and ionic surfactant exhibit an associative phase separation. The temperature or clearing point (CP) at which the system goes from a one phase to two-phase system are reported. The area of the two-phase region is found to increase with increasing electrolyte concentration, hydrophobicity of the hydrophobe for the high molecular weight HPAMs, and decreasing hydrophobicity for low molecular weight HPAMs. Exposure of HPAMs containing an azobenzene hydrophobe to UV light results in a decrease in interaction between the hydrophobe and surfactant and a corresponding decrease in the CP due to conversion of azobenzene from the more hydrophobic trans form to the less hydrophobic cis isomer. Received: 23 September 1996 Accepted: 11 March 1997     

Room-temperature imprinting poly(acrylic acid)/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) multilayer films by using polymer molds

Layer-by-layer assembled polyelectrolyte multilayer films of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) have been successfully patterned by room-temperature imprinting using a Norland Optical Adhesives (NOA 63) polymer mold. The proper amount of water in the PAA/PAH multilayer film can decrease the viscosity of the film and facilitate the imprinting. Many factors, such as imprinting pressure, length of imprinting time, and the structure and size of the patterns in the polymer mold, can produce an influence on the final imprinted pattern structures on multilayer films. A high imprinting pressure of 100 bar and elongated imprinting time of several hours is needed to achieve a patterned PAA/PAH multilayer film with a feature size of several tens of micrometers. With a twice imprinting, grid structures can be successfully produced when a NOA 63 mold having line structures is used. Room-temperature imprinting by using polymer NOA 63 mold provides a facile way to fabricate layered polymeric films with various kinds of pattern structures.     

Formation of unimer nanoparticles by controlling the self-association of hydrophobically modified poly(amino acid)s

Amphiphilic block or graft copolymers have been demonstrated to form a variety of self-assembled nano/microstructures in selective solvents. In this study, the self-association behavior of biodegradable graft copolymers composed of poly(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) as the hydrophilic segment and L-phenylalanine (Phe) as the hydrophobic segment in aqueous solution was investigated. The association behavior and unimer nanoparticle formation of these γ-PGA-graft-Phe (γ-PGA-Phe) copolymers in aqueous solution were characterized with a focus on the effect of the Phe grafting degree on the intra- and interpolymer association of γ-PGA-Phe. The particle size and number of polymer aggregates (N(agg)) in one particle of the γ-PGA-Phe depended on the Phe grafting degree. The size of γ-PGA-Phe with 12, 27, 35, or 42% Phe grafting (γ-PGA-Phe-12, -27, -35, or -42) was about 8-14 nm and the N(agg) was about 1, supporting the presence of a unimolecular graft copolymer in PBS. The pyrene fluorescence data indicated that γ-PGA-Phe-35 and -42 have hydrophobic domains formed by the intrapolymer association of Phe attached to γ-PGA. These results suggest that the Phe grafting degree is critical to the association behavior of γ-PGA-Phe and that γ-PGA-Phe-35 and -42 could form unimer nanoparticles. Moreover, when γ-PGA-Phe-42 dissolved in DMSO was added to various concentrations of NaCl solution, the particle size and N(agg) could be easily controlled by changing the NaCl concentration during the formation of the particles. These results suggest that biodegradable γ-PGA-Phe is useful for the fabrication of very small nanoparticles. It is expected that γ-PGA-Phe nanoparticles, including unimer particles, will have great potential as multifunctional carriers for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, such as drug and vaccine delivery systems.     

Aggregation behaviour of hydrophobically modified poly(allylammonium) chloride

 The behaviour of hydrophobically modified poly(allylammonium) chloride having octyl, decyl, dodecyl and hexadecyl side chains has been studied in aqueous solution using fluorescence emission techniques. Micropolarity studies using the I ₁/I ₃ ratio of the vibronic bands of pyrene show that the formation of hydrophobic microdomains depends on both the length of the side chain and the polymer concentration. The I ₁/I ₃ ratio of the polymers with low hydrophobe content (less than 5% mol) changes substantially when reaching a certain concentration. These changes are assigned to aggregation originating from interchain interactions. This behaviour is also confirmed by the behaviour of the monomer/excimer emission intensities of pyrenedodecanoic acid used as a probe. For polymers having dodecyl side chains and hydrophobe contents higher than 10%, aggregates are formed independently of the polymer concentration. Anisotropy measurements show that microdomains resulting from the inter- and/or intramolecular interactions are similar to those observed for cationic surfactants. Viscosity measurements show that the coil dimensions are substantially decreased for the polymers having high hydrophobe contents, indicating intramolecular associations. Received: 10 November 1999/Accepted: 7 April 2000     

Sorption properties of hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acids) as natural organic matter model substances to pyrene

Amphiphilic natural organic matter (NOM) in soil, water and sediments plays an important role in the fate of low-soluble hydrophobic organic compounds (HOC) in the environment. Scaling NOM structural factors, which affect the transport and immobilization of HOC, is rather involved due to the complexity of the NOM materials. Sorption properties of hydrophobically modified polyacrylic (HMPA) polymers as NOM model substances for pyrene were investigated and discussed with regard to reported NOM results. Emission fluorescence spectroscopic properties of pyrene and potentiometric titrations were used to characterize the hydrophobic and acidic properties of HMPA samples. Excitation fluorescence spectroscopy allowed a speciation of pyrene molecules. Overall complexation constants β₁ and β₂ of pyrene with hydrophobic moieties (–C₈H₁₇) and (–C₁₆H₃₃) were calculated depending on the pH and electrolyte cation nature at an ionic strength of 10 mM, typical of soil solution conditions. Aggregation of HMPA molecules was detected by photon correlation spectroscopy. Normalized sorption constant K_oc values for pyrene with HMPA samples similar to reported values with NOM support recent observations on the contribution of aliphatic moieties to the binding of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The HMPA samples also model the partitioning behavior of hydrophobic micelle-like structures of NOM.     

pH-effects in the complex formation of polymers I. Interaction of poly(acrylic acid) with poly(acrylamide)

The effects of polymer concentration, molecular weight of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), addition of sodium, potassium, ammonium and copper (II) chlorides on the complex formation ability of the system PAA-poly(acrylamide) (PAAM) have been studied in aqueous solutions. The critical pH values of the complexation were determined in different conditions. The complex formation ability of PAAM is compared with other non-ionic polymers. It was shown that an increase in polymers concentration, molecular weight of PAA and ionic strength favours the complexation and shifts the critical pH values to the higher pH region. An addition of CuCl₂ to the mixture of two polymers enhances the complexation drastically due to the formation of triple complexes.     

Rheology of hydrophobically modified polyacrylamide-co-poly(acrylic acid) on addition of surfactant and variation of solution pH

Constant shear and shear dependent viscosity measurements are reported in aqueous systems of co- and terpolymers of acrylamide (AM), N-n-alkylacrylamide (C10, C12, and C14 alkyl groups), and acrylic acid (AA) with added anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The results are presented as three-dimensional plots of viscosity vs surfactant concentration and pH at constant shear rate or viscosity vs shear rate and surfactant concentration at constant pH. For terpolymers incorporating AA, a strong viscosity maximum is observed at intermediate pH values (pH 4-6) where the AA groups are partially ionized and at SDS concentrations close to the critical micelle concentration. At high pH, all AA incorporating terpolymer solutions with SDS are strongly shear thinning, but at pH 3-4 the systems of terpolymers with SDS are strongly shear thickening at low shear, followed by a shear-thinning region at high shear. These results are explained in terms of surfactant-mediated network formation with polymer coil expansion and hydrogen bonding between partially ionized AA groups as additional factors.     

Protein polymer conjugates: improving the stability of hemoglobin with poly(acrylic acid)

The synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of a novel polymer-protein conjugate are reported here. The covalent conjugation of high-molecular weight poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) to the lysine amino groups of met-hemoglobin (Hb) resulted in the covalent conjugation of Hb to PAA (Hb-PAA conjugate), as confirmed by dialysis and electrophoresis studies. The retention of native-like structure of Hb in Hb-PAA was established from Soret absorption, circular dichroism studies, and the redox activity of the iron center in Hb-PAA. The peroxidase-like activities of the Hb-PAA conjugate further confirmed the retention of Hb structure and biological activity. Thermal denaturation of the conjugate was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and steam sterilization studies. The Hb-PAA conjugate indicated an improved denaturation temperature (T(d)) when compared to that of the unmodified Hb. One astonishing observation was that polymer conjugation significantly enhanced the Hb-PAA storage stability at room temperature. After 120 h of storage at room temperature in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at pH 7.4, for example, Hb-PAA retained 90% of its initial activity and unmodified Hb retained <60% of its original activity under identical conditions of buffer, pH, and temperature. Our conjugate demonstrates the key role of polymers in enhancing Hb stability via a very simple, efficient, general route. Water-swollen, lightly cross-linked, stable Hb-polymer nanogels of 100-200 nm were produced quickly and economically by this approach for a wide variety of applications.