Measurement and correlation of partition coefficients of hydrolytic enzymes for dextran+poly (ethylene glycol) + water aqueous two-phase systems at 20°C

The partition coefficients of hydrolytic enzymes, α-amylase, β-amylase and glucoamylase for the dextran (DEX)+poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)+water aqueous two-phase systems with various polymer molecular weights were measured at 20°C. The partition coefficients obtained were correlated by using a mod fied Flory-Huggins equation which was empirically proposed for aqueous systems. The interaction parameters required were determined by fitting the model to the experimental data. The partition coefficients could be correlated with good agreement.     

Effect of temperature on the intrinsic viscosity of poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) blends in aqueous solutions

In this work the intrinsic viscosity of poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) blends in aqueous solutions were measured at 283.1–313.1 K. The expansion factor of polymer chain was calculated by use of the intrinsic viscosities data. The thermodynamic parameters of polymer solution (the entropy of dilution parameter, the heat of dilution parameter, theta temperature, polymer–solvent interaction parameter and second osmotic virial coefficient) were evaluated by temperature dependence of polymer chain expansion factor. The obtained thermodynamic parameters indicate that quality of water was decreased for solutions of poly(ethylene oxide), poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) and poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) blends by increasing temperature. Compatibility of poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) blends were explained in terms of difference between experimental and ideal intrinsic viscosity and solvent–polymer interaction parameter. The results indicate that the poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) blends were incompatible.     

Vapor-liquid equilibrium properties of sodium n-heptyl sulfonate in Water and in aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) at different temperatures

The vapor-liquid equilibria properties of sodium n-heptyl sulfonate (C₇SO₃Na) in pure water and in aqueous poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) solutions were determined at different temperatures below and above the critical micelle concentration (CMC). Vapor-liquid equilibrium data such as water activity, vapor pressure, osmotic coefficient, activity coefficient and Gibbs free energies were obtained through isopiestic method. The concentration dependence of all investigated thermodynamic properties exhibit a change in slope at the concentration in which micelles are formed. It was found that the vapor pressure depression for a ternary aqueous C₇SO₃Na + PEG system is more than the sum of those for the corresponding binary solutions and, at higher temperatures, the higher concentration of PEG is in equilibrium with a certain concentration of surfactant.     

Modification of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Track Membranes by Sorption of Poly(Ethylene Glycol)

Sorption of poly(ethylene glycol) on poly(ethylene terephthalate) track membranes was studied at different pH. The hydrophilic-hydrophobic properties of the intact membranes and those modified with poly(ethylene glycol) are compared. The membrane-aqueous human serum albumin and membrane-aqueous insulin adhesive tensions were determined for modified membranes. The competitive sorption of human serum albumin and poly(ethylene glycol) from aqueous solution on the track membranes is analyzed.     

Adsorption kinetics of octylphenyl ethers of poly(ethylene glycol)s on the solution—air interface

We studied the dynamic surface tension of aqueous solutions of Triton X-100 and Triton X-405 by the maximum bubble pressure and the inclined plate methods in the lifetime range from 0.001 s up to 10 s. It is established that in the region of large and ultimately small surface pressure and time the adsorption follows diffusion kinetics, but in the region of intermediate values of lifetime and surface pressure both the surfactants decrease the surface tension faster than predicted by the existing diffusion theory. We offer a model that provides for the ability of poly(ethylene glycol) chains to adsorb on the water-air interface and to change the area that a molecule occupies on the surface. For this model we achieve full coincidence of the measured values and the values calculated according to the diffusion theory of the dynamic surface tension.

It is ascertained that the Triton X-405 molecule can exist in the surface layer in different states: with the poly(ethylene glycol) chain fully expanded or with it partially or fully submerged in solution. The first state is most probable at surface pressures less than 5 mN m⁻¹, and the second is probable at a pressure of about 8–10 mN m⁻¹. At pressures larger than 15–20 mN m⁻¹, the poly(ethylene glycol) chain is fully submerged in the solution. The Triton X-100 molecule can also expand its poly(ethylene glycol) chain at low pressures and fully submerges it in the solution at higher values of the surface pressure.     

Membrane selectivity for an aqueous system by dynamic osmometry

Commercial and fractionated samples of poly(ethylene glycol) and a sample of Dextran were used as standards to show the limitation of a cellulose acetate membrane for osmotic pressure determination of molecular weight in an aqueous system. The leakage of this membrane was much greater in the aqueous system than in organic solvents.     

Amphiphilic polymers as pseudotemplates in the synthesis of metal sols

The effects of poly(ethylene glycol) and its amphiphilic polymers on the products of copper ion reduction in aqueous solutions are studied. Whereas coarse metal dispersions are formed in poly(ethylene glycol) solutions, stable sols of metal nanoparticles with diameters of 2 nm and above are produced in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol monolaurate) and poly(ethylene glycol monostearate). A poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(propylene glycol) block copolymer (Pluronic) also stabilizes copper nanoparticles; however, the interaction product of this copolymer with nanoparticles forms a precipitate. According to the electron microscopy data, sol particles comprise polymer micelles containing included copper nanoparticles.     

Hydrogen-bonding-driven self-assembly of PEGylated organosilica nanoparticles with poly(acrylic acid) in aqueous solutions and in layer-by-layer deposition at solid surfaces

PEGylated organosilica nanoparticles have been synthesized through self-condensation of (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane in dimethyl sulfoxide into thiolated nanoparticles with their subsequent reaction with methoxypoly(ethylene glycol) maleimide. The PEGylated nanoparticles showed excellent colloidal stability over a wide range of pH in contrast to the parent thiolated nanoparticles, which have a tendency to aggregate irreversibly under acidic conditions (pH < 3.0). Due to the presence of a poly(ethylene glycol)-based corona, the PEGylated nanoparticles are capable of forming hydrogen-bonded interpolymer complexes with poly(acrylic acid) in aqueous solutions under acidic conditions, resulting in larger aggregates. The use of hydrogen-bonding interactions allows more efficient attachment of the nanoparticles to surfaces. The alternating deposition of PEGylated nanoparticles and poly(acrylic acid) on silicon wafer surfaces in a layer-by-layer fashion leads to multilayered coatings. The self-assembly of PEGylated nanoparticles with poly(acrylic acid) in aqueous solutions and at solid surfaces was compared to the behavior of linear poly(ethylene glycol). The nanoparticle system creates thicker layers than the poly(ethylene glycol), and a thicker layer is obtained on a poly(acrylic acid) surface than on a silica surface, because of the effects of hydrogen bonding. Some implications of these hydrogen-bonding-driven interactions between PEGylated nanoparticles and poly(acrylic acid) for pharmaceutical formulations are discussed.     

Thermodynamic Study of Poly(ethylene glycol) in Water/1-Propanol Solutions by Viscometry

In this work, the intrinsic viscosities of poly(ethylene glycol) with a molar mass of 20 kg⋅mol⁻¹ were measured in water/1-propanol solutions from 283.1 to 313.1 K. The expansion factors of the polymer chains were calculated from the intrinsic viscosity data. The thermodynamic parameters entropy of dilution parameter, the heat of dilution parameter, theta temperature, polymer–solvent interaction parameter and second osmotic virial coefficient were derived from the temperature dependence of the polymer chain expansion factor. The thermodynamic parameters indicate that mixtures of water/1-propanol become weaker solvents for poly(ethylene glycol) with increasing temperature. Also, the thermodynamic parameters indicate that the solvent ability of mixed water/1-propanol for poly(ethylene glycol) is less than that of pure water.     

Determination of effective hydrodynamic diameters of biopolymer molecules in high-viscosity mixtures by photon-correlation spectroscopy

Using model high-viscosity single-component and mixed systems based on biopolymers with different molecular sizes (poly(ethylene glycol), dextran, and polysucrose) as examples, it is shown by photon-correlation spectroscopy combined with monoand polymodal analysis that solvent viscosity should be used, when calculating the hydrodynamic diameter of molecules in single-component aqueous solutions and mixed solutions of dextran and polysucrose, which have close molecule sizes, by the Stokes–Einstein equation. For mixtures of dextran and polysucrose with polyethylene glycol, the viscosity of the medium, the role of which is played by the poly(ethylene glycol) solution, should be used.     

Synthesis and study of water-soluble chitosan-O-poly(ethylene glycol) graft copolymers

Novel chitosan-O-poly(ethylene glycol) graft copolymers were synthesized. Etherification of N-phthaloyl chitosan by poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether (MPEG) iodide was carried out in dimethylformamide in the presence of silver oxide. Varying the ratio of MPEG iodide to chitosan, different degree of O-substitution of MPEG to monosaccharide residue of chitosan (5-197%) was obtained. Chemical structure of the new chitosan derivatives was confirmed using FTIR spectroscopy and analysis of functional groups. O-PEGylated chitosans are soluble in water and aqueous solutions of wide pH range. Reduced viscosity of aqueous solutions of the graft copolymers is extremely low and similar to that of MPEG-2000.     

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.     

Role of linear charge density and counterion quality in thermodynamic properties of strong acid type polyelectrolytes: divalent transition metal cations

Thermodynamic properties of aqueous solutions of poly[(vinyl alcohol)-co-(vinyl sulfate)] (PVAS) copolymer polyelectrolytes with divalent transition metal (Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II)) counterions have been determined by the gel deswelling method in the concentration range of 0.0005-0.12 mol of counterion/kg of water (0.09-9 w/w% of the polymer). The influence of the chemical nature of the counterion as well as the effect of the composition of the copolymer from small to medium linear charge density have been systematically studied. Solvent activity, reduced osmotic pressure, the Flory-Huggins pair interaction parameter, rational osmotic coefficients, and degrees of dissociation were calculated from the measured data. No difference could have been observed between the three counterions. Reduced osmotic pressure curves are found to be convex from above, as for Na+ counterions studied previously, which is contrary to the usual behavior of neutral polymers. Intercepts are increasing, and the calculated apparent molar masses and degrees of dissociation at infinite dilution are decreasing with increasing linear charge density of the polyelectrolytes. The pair interaction parameters show a considerable negative deviation from linearity, except for the high volume fraction region. From the differences, concentration dependence of degrees of dissociation could have been calculated. The values at infinite dilution are in good agreement with those obtained from the intercepts of the reduced osmotic pressure curves. Degrees of dissociation seem to decrease approximately linearly with increasing concentration and reach zero at finite concentrations. Rational osmotic coefficients have been calculated in three different ways, both regarding and neglecting the change in the degrees of dissociation.     

Precisely installing gold nanoparticles at the core/shell interface of micellar assemblies of triblock copolymers

Two reduction-cleavable ABA triblock copolymers possessing two disulfide linkages, PMMA-ss-PMEO₃MA-ss-PMMA and PDEA-ss-PEO-ss-PDEA were synthesized via facile substitution reactions from homopolymer precursors, where PMMA, PMEO₃MA, PDEA, and PEO represent poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(tri(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether methacrylate, poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate), and poly(ethylene oxide), respectively. Spherical micelles were obtained through supramolecular self-assembly of these two triblock copolymers in aqueous solutions. The resultant micelles with abundant disulfide bonds could serve as soft templates and precisely accommodate gold nanoparticles in the core/shell interface as a result of the formation of Au-S bonds.     

Kinetics of sorption of poly(ethylene glycols) of various molecular masses by globular carbon

The kinetics of adsorption of poly(ethylene glycols) with molecular masses in the range 300–15000 from aqueous solutions by globular carbon with different radii of curvature of particles is studied. The kinetic adsorption coefficients of poly(ethylene glycols) are calculated. The dependences of the kinetic absorption coefficient on adsorbent dispersion and molecular mass of poly(ethylene glycol) are discussed.     

Rheological Properties of Hydrophobically Modified Poly(acrylic acid) in Mixed Solutions

Hydrophobically modified poly(acrylic acid) (HMPA) with single-tailed pendant side groups was prepared by precipitation polymerization. The effects of polymer concentration, surfactant and co-solvent on the solution properties of HMPA were investigated. HMPA solutions showed good viscosity enhancement and typical shear thinning behavior with increasing concentration. The surfactant TX-10 and co-solvent ethylene glycol gave rise to factors that changed the hydrophobic interactions and in turn the rheology behavior of the solutions. The transient associative network of HMPA in ethylene glycol + water mixed solutions was retained as the temperature was decreased to below 0 °C.     

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.     

Interfacial Tension and the Osmotic Pressure of Solutions of Polar Polymers

It is shown that the Flory-Huggins X₁₂ parameter for a polymer, 1, with a solvent, 2, is proportional to the interfacial tension, Y₁₂, between the polymer and the solvent. In the case of polyethylene glycol (PEG) dissolved in water, the value of Y₁₂ is strongly negative. It is shown that this condition gives rise to a sizable negative value of X₁₂. which in turn engenders a strongly positive second virial coefficient of the osmotic pressure (II) function. X₁₂ values calculated for the PEG-water system from surface tension data of PEG and of water allow the calculation of II for aqueous solutions of PEG of up to 60% (w/v) for PEG of molecular weights of 150,400,6000, and 20 000. The results show an excellent correlation with the II values earlier measured for these polymers by Arnold et al. and furnish an explanation for the unusual lack of dependence of II on the polymer molecular weight and for the very high osmotic pressures observed with aqueous PEG and dextran solutions.