| Abstract: | The effect of ionization on the potentiometric and viscometric behavior of both poly(methacrylic acid) (PMA) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) was investigated in methanol–water mixtures. The potentiometric and viscosity data revealed that the conformational change which takes place for PMA in water gradually disappears with increasing content of methanol in methanol–water mixtures. For mixtures containing 40 and 50% methanol, the behavior of PMA solutions becomes similar to that of PAA, i.e., the discontinuity versus the degree of ionization is no longer detectable and the molecule unfolds regularly upon ionization. The addition of methanol leads to the breakdown of the compact structure of PMA which is stabilized, at low degree of ionization in water, by nonelectrostatic interactions between the methyl groups of PMA. |
