Swelling of polyacrylamide gels in polyacrylamide solutions

Swelling behavior of polyacrylamide (PAAm) and polyacrylamide-co-polyacrylic acid (PAAm-co-PAAc) gels was investigated in aqueous solutions of monodisperse PAAms with molecular weights (M_w) ranging from 1.5 × 10³ to 5 × 10⁶ g/mol. The volume of the gels decreases as the PAAm concentration in the external solution increases. This decrease becomes more pronounced as the molecular weight of PAAm increases. The classical Flory–Huggins (FH) theory correctly predicts the swelling behavior of nonionic PAAm gels in PAAm solutions. The polymer–polymer interaction parameter χ₂₃ was found to decrease as the molecular weight of PAAm increases. The swelling behavior of PAAm-co-PAAc gels in PAAm solutions deviates from the predictions of the FH theory. This is probably due to the change of the ionization degree of AAc units depending on the polymer concentration in the external solution. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 1313–1320, 1998     

Extraction of ethylene glycol from aqueous salt solutions

A method is proposed for extracting ethylene glycol from aqueous salt solutions by dialysis through ion-exchange membranes, based on the Donnan exclusion of the electrolyte. Dialysis is performed in the continuous and batch modes. It is found that the batch mode of dialysis is more effective for extracting ethylene glycol from its aqueous salt solutions. The effect of the ionic form of the membrane on ethylene glycol fluxes is explained through computer simulation.     

Preparation of ethylene glycol oligomers

Procedures are described for the preparation of pure nonaethylene glycol and practically pure pentadecaethylene glycol from the monosodium salt and the ditosylate of triethylene glycol, using both toluene and tetrahydrofuran as diluents. The much faster reaction in the latter makes this the preferred reaction medium.     

Interactions between inorganic salts and polyacrylamide in aqueous solutions and gels

The swelling of poly(acrylamide) (PAAm) gels and the osmotic pressure of linear PAAm in aqueous solutions were predominantly affected by anion type and increased according to the lyotropic series ranking of sodium halide anions: F^? < (H₂O) < Cl^? < Br^? < I^?. The osmotic pressure of PAAm in all examined salt solutions followed the scaling theory, with an exponent of 2.3 ± 0.1. In solutions of a sodium halide series, the value of the pre‐exponential factor seemed to depend on salt concentration, anion radius, and the apparent “anionic‐portion radius” of the water molecule. This radius, extracted from the literature data, marks a transition point of the anion radius effect. Larger anions increase the osmotic pressure of PAAm more significantly as their concentration increases and vice versa. The effects of the anions on the osmotic pressure of PAAm are related to their preferential interactions with the polymer. Iodide, which increased the osmotic pressure of PAAm with respect to its value in pure water, seemed to preferentially adsorb onto the polymer with a binding constant of K_b = 9.7 ± 2.0 M^?1 determined by isothermal titration microcalorimetry. However, fluoride, which decreased the osmotic pressure, was preferentially repulsed. The mechanisms of attraction and repulsion were attributed to ion‐water‐polymer interactions and the solvent quality of the hydrated ions. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 508–519, 2003     

Rheological properties of poly(ethylene glycol) solutions and gels

By the interaction of a water–glycol solution of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with calcium chloride dihydrate, a gel was produced. It was determined that, below a certain shear rate, this gel is a Newtonian fluid; however, above a certain shear rate, which depends on the gel viscosity, the properties of this gel are anomalous: the gel flow instantaneously completely stops. The viscosity of the gels was found to exponentially increase with increasing concentration of the cross-linking metal at constant PEG concentration. The density of the gels linearly increases with increasing concentration of the cross-linking metal at constant PEG concentration.     

Molar volumes of aqueous and ethylene glycol solutions of tetrahydrofuran

The densities of ethylene glycol solutions of tetrahydrofuran (THF) with 0–20 mol % THF were measured at 20–60°C and atmospheric pressure to an accuracy of 5 × 10⁻⁵ g/cm³. The apparent molar volumes of THF in the solutions were calculated and their concentration and temperature dependences determined. The results were compared with the apparent molar volumes of THF in aqueous systems calculated from the literature data. Minima were found on the concentration dependence of the apparent volume of THF for both aqueous and ethylene glycol solutions and changed differently as the temperature increased. The data obtained were discussed from the standpoint of solvophobic effects in aqueous and ethylene glycol solutions of THF.     

Preparation of ethylene glycol oligomers—II

Procedures are described for the preparation of oligomeric ethylene glycols HO[CH₂-CH₂O]_xH, x = 10, 15, 20, 25, 35 from the monosodium salt and the ditosylate of pentaethylene glycol. The melting points of the oligomers are higher than those of comparable materials prepared hitherto.     

Swelling equilibrium of poly(acrylamide) gels in aqueous salt and polymer solutions

The influence of some single salts (NaCl, KCl, Na₂HPO₄ and K₂HPO₄) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the swelling of aqueous poly(arcylamide)-gels was studied at 25°C in more than 600 experiments. The chlorides and phosphates cause a different behavior at high salt concentrations: The polyacrylamide gels swell in aqueous solutions of sodium and potassium chloride whereas they shrink when chloride ions are substituted by hydrogen phosphate ions. These differences are due to differences in the interactions of chloride and hydrogen phosphate ions with the network groups. In aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) the gels shrink continuously with increasing polymer concentration. At constant PEG mass fraction in the liquid phase, the swelling of the gel decreases with increasing molecular weight of PEG. The experimental results (degree of swelling, partitioning of solutes to the coexisting phases) are correlated by combining a model for the Gibbs excess energy for aqueous systems of polymers and electrolytes with a modification of the phantom-network theory. The correlation gives a good agreement with the experimental data for the degree of swelling, whereas in most cases, there is only a qualitative agreement for the partitioning of the solutes.     

Solvation of amides of carboxylic acids in aqueous solutions of ethylene glycol

Enthalpies of solution of amides of formic, acetic, and propionic acids with different degrees of N-substitution in aqueous solutions of ethylene glycol were measured at 298.15 K. The concentration of ethylene glycol did not exceed 4 mol kg^–1. The reasons for increasing endothermic values of the enthalpies characterizing the amide transfer from water to a mixed aqueous-organic solvent on going from primary to tertiary amides and from formamides to the corresponding acetamides are discussed. The enthalpic coefficients of pair interactions between amides and ethylene glycol in water were calculated. The endothermicity of the interaction of the alkyl groups of the amide molecules with ethylene glycol results in positive values of the coefficients. The coefficient values increase with the enhancement of the hydrophobic properties of hydrophilic non-electrolytes (urea, formamide, ethylene glycol) due to an increase in the contribution of the hydrophobic component and a decrease in the contribution from the interaction of the polar groups of amides to the total interaction.     

Solubility of amino acids in aqueous poly (ethylene glycol) solutions

The solubilities of amino acids have been measured in water and aqueous poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) solutions as a function of temperature and PEG concentration. The free energies of transfer from water to aqueous PEG solutions forl-alanine,l-valine,l-isoleucine andl-leucine were positive, while those forl-phenylalanine andl-tryptophan were negative. The corresponding enthalpies of transfer were almost zero for all amino acids. The equilibrium constants of the binding of amino acids to PEG chain were estimated from the solubility data. Amino acids with larger hydrophobicity are bound more strongly to the PEG chain due to the hydrophobic interaction between the methylene groups of PEG and the side chain of amino acid. The equilibrium constants showed a correlation with the dynamic hydration number (n _DHN) which expresses the hydration properties of amino acids in aqueous solution.     

Conductometric studies of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide in aqueous solutions of ethanol and ethylene glycol

The effect of cosolvent on micellization of hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) in aqueous solutions was studied. The conductivity of a mixture (cosolvent + water) as function of CTAB concentration was measured at different temperatures. Ethylene glycol and ethanol were used as a cosolvent. The conductivity data were used to determine the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the effective degree of counterion dissociation of micelle in the temperature range 303.2 to 313.2 K. In all the cases studied, a linear relationship between log([CMC]_mix/mol dm⁻³) and the mass fraction of cosolvent in solvent mixture has been observed. The free energy (ΔG _mic ⁰ ), enthalpy (ΔH _mic ⁰ ), and entropy (ΔS _mic ⁰ ) of micellization were determined using the temperature dependence of CMC. The dependence of these thermodynamic parameters on solvent composition was determined. The standard free energy of micellization was found to be negative in all cases and becomes less negative as the cosolvent content increases. The enthalpy and entropy of micellization are independent of temperature in pure water, while ΔH _mic ⁰ and ΔS _mic ⁰ decrease dramatically with temperature in mixed cosolvents. Furthermore, the entropic contribution is larger than the enthalpic one in pure water, while in the mixed solvents, the enthalpic contribution predominates. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Liquid properties of oligomers. Comparison of relaxational properties of propylene glycol oligomers with those of ethylene glycol oligomers

Liquid properties such as dielectric relaxation and viscous flow of the two structurally homologous propylene glycol oligomers HO(CH(CH₃)CH₂O)_nH (n=1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 34) and ethylene glycol oligomers HO(C₂H₄O)_nH (n=1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) are studied in pure liquid state to clarify the degree of polymerization dependences of chain molecules on their liquid properties. These oligomers are, at room temperature, viscous liquid which shows dielectric relaxations in the frequency range from 10 Hz to 3 MHz. Propylene glycol oligomers (n=from 1 to 5) show the Davidson-Cole-type relaxations, but the higher glycol (n=34) shows superposition of the two different relaxations, i. e., small Debye-type relaxation in the lower-frequency region and large principal Havriliak-Negami-type relaxation in the higher-frequency region. Relaxation times vs. degree of polymerization do not increase linearly, but vary in zigzag lines. Above all, the dimers (dipropylene glycol and diethylene glycol) show longer relaxation times than the other glycols. This dielectric result does not agree with the degree of polymerization dependence of viscous flow.     

MALDI analysis of proteins after extraction from dissolvable ethylene glycol diacrylate cross‐linked polyacrylamide gels

Although the extraction of intact proteins from polyacrylamide gels followed by mass spectrometric molecular mass determination has been shown to be efficient, there is room for alternative approaches. Our study evaluates ethylene glycol diacrylate, a cleavable cross‐linking agent used for a new type of dissolvable gels. It attains an ester linkage that can be hydrolyzed in alkali conditions. The separation performance of the new gel system was tested by 1D and 2D SDS‐PAGE using the outer chloroplast envelope of Pisum sativum as well as a soluble protein fraction of human lymphocytes, respectively. Gel spot staining (CBB), dissolving, and extracting were conducted using a custom‐developed workflow. It includes protein extraction with an ammonia–SDS buffer followed by methanol treatment to remove acrylamide filaments. Necessary purification for MALDI‐TOF analysis was implemented using methanol–chloroform precipitation and perfusion HPLC. Both cleaning procedures were applied to several standard proteins of different molecular weight as well as ‘real’ biological samples (8–75 kDa). The protein amounts, which had to be loaded on the gel to detect a peak in MALDI‐TOF MS, were in the range of 0.1 to 5 μg, and the required amount increased with increasing mass.     

Interactions of glucose and polyacrylamide in solutions and gels

The swelling of polyacrylamide (PAAm) gels increased with rising glucose concentrations, and so did the osmotic pressure of the soluble polymer and its intrinsic viscosity. A Flory–Huggins‐based model for the osmotic pressure of a nonionic hydrophilic polymer in a ternary solution consisting of a main solvent, a polymer, and a nondissociating low‐molecular‐weight cosolute was developed and examined. The model‐calculated values were in reasonably good agreement with experimental results for the water–PAAm–glucose system studied when PAAm–water and glucose–water interaction coefficients from the binary systems were used, and only the PAAm–glucose interaction coefficient was adjusted. Its negative value suggested a favorable interaction of glucose and PAAm, supporting the notion of glucose being a good cosolvent for PAAm. Isothermal titration microcalorimetry results showed no evidence for the binding of glucose to PAAm, but an exothermic interaction was indicated between glucose and PAAm. Microcalorimetrically determined enthalpic contributions to the Flory–Huggins interaction coefficients showed enthalpically favorable binary interactions, particularly the enthalpic component of the PAAm–glucose interaction coefficient (χ_H23), which was slightly negative. The enthalpically favorable interaction between glucose and PAAm may explain the increased osmotic pressure of PAAm in glucose solutions. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 3053–3063, 2003     

Enthalpy characteristics of L-asparagine interaction with glycerol, ethylene glycol, and 1,2-propylene glycol in aqueous solutions

Integral dissolution enthalpies ??_sol H ^m of L-asparagine in the mixtures of water with glycerol, ethylene glycol, and 1,2-propylene glycol at the concentration of organic solvents up to 0.24 mole fraction were measured by the calorimetry method. The standard enthalpies of dissolution (??_sol H ⁰) and transport (??_tr H ⁰) of amino acids from water to the mixed solvents were derived. The calculated enthalpy coefficients of the molecule pair interactions of L-asparagine-cosolvent are positive, except for the amino acid-glycerol-water system. The data obtained are interpreted in terms of prevalence of different types of interactions in solution and effect of the cosolvent nature on the thermochemical characteristics of the L-asparagine dissolution.     

Thermochemical characteristics of interactions of DL-alanine in aqueous solutions of glycerol, ethylene glycol, and 1,2-propylene glycol

The method of dissolution calorimetry was used to measure the integral enthalpy of dissolution ??_sol H ^m of DL-alanine in mixtures of water with glycerol, ethylene glycol, and 1,2-propylene glycol at a concentration of organic solvent up to 0.32 mole fraction. The standard dissolution enthalpy (??_sol H ⁰) and transport enthalpy of amino acids from water to mixed solvent (??_tr H ⁰) were calculated. The calculated enthalpy coefficients of pair interactions of the DL-alanine molecules with the polyol molecules are positive and less than these values for L-alanine. The effect of interactions of different types in solution and the structural features of biomolecules and co-solvents on the enthalpy of dissolution characteristics of amino acids were considered.     

Ultrafast dynamics in aqueous polyacrylamide solutions.

We have investigated the ultrafast dynamics of aqueous polyacrylamide ([-CH(2)CH(CONH(2))-](n), or PAAm) solutions using femtosecond optical heterodyne-detected Raman-induced Kerr effect spectroscopy (OHD-RIKES). The observed aqueous PAAm dynamics are nearly identical for both M(w) = 1500 and 10 000. Aqueous propionamide (CH(3)CH(2)CONH(2), or PrAm) solutions were also studied, because PrAm is an exact model for the PAAm constitutional repeat unit (CRU). The longest time scale dynamics observed for both aqueous PAAm and PrAm solutions occur in the 4-10 ps range. Over the range of concentrations from 0 to 40 wt %, the picosecond reorientation time constants for the aqueous PAAm and PrAm solutions scale linearly with the solution concentration, despite the fact that the solution shear viscosities vary exponentially from 1 to 264 cP. For a given value of solution concentration in weight percent, constant ratios of measured reorientation time constants for PAAm to PrAm are obtained. This ratio of PAAm to PrAm reorientation time constants is equal to the ratio of the volume for the PAAm constitutional repeat unit (-CH(2)CHCONH(2)-) to the molecular volume of PrAm. For these reasons, we assign the polymer reorientation dynamics to motions of the entire constitutional repeat unit, not only side group motions. Simple molecular dynamics simulations of H[-CH(2)CH(CONH(2))-](7)H in a periodic box with 180 water molecules support this assignment. Amide-amide and amide-water hydrogen-bonding interactions lead to strongly oscillatory femtosecond dynamics in the Kerr transients, peaking at 80, 410, and 750 fs.     

Thermochemical investigation of interaction of L-serin with glycerol,ethylene glycol,and 1,2-propylene glycol in aqueous solutions

By the method of dissolution calorimetry integral enthalpies of dissolution Δ_sol H ^m of L-serine are measured in the mixtures of water with glycerol, ethylene glycol, and 1,2-propylene glycol at the concentration of the organic solvent up to 0.42 mole fraction. The standard values of enthalpies of dissolution (Δ_sol H ⁰) and transfer (Δ_tr H ⁰) of amino acids from water to mixed solvents are calculated. The calculated values of the enthalpy coefficients of pair interactions of L-serine with the molecules of co-solvents are positive. The data obtained are interpreted in terms of prevalence of different types of interactions in solutions and the influence of nature of co-solvents on the thermochemical characteristics of the dissolved amino acids.     

Precise measurement of the self-diffusion coefficient for poly(ethylene glycol) in aqueous solution using uniform oligomers

Uniform poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) oligomers, with a degree of polymerization n=1-40, were separated by preparative supercritical fluid chromatography from commercial monodispersed samples. Diffusion coefficients, D, for separated uniform PEG oligomers were measured in dilute solutions of deuterium oxide (D(2)O) at 30 degrees C, using pulsed-field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance. The measured D for each molecular weight was extrapolated to infinite dilution. Diffusion coefficients obtained at infinite dilution follow the scaling behavior of Zimm-type diffusion, even in the lower molecular weight range. Molecular-dynamics simulations for PEG in H(2)O also showed this scaling behavior, and reproduced close hydrodynamic interactions between PEG and water. These findings suggest that diffusion of PEG in water is dominated by hydrodynamic interaction over a wide molecular weight range, including at low molecular weights around 1000.