| Abstract: | The fluorescence polarization method has been used to study the micro-Brownian motion of a terminal segement of a polymer chain in concentrated solutions. A new apparatus for determining the fluorescence intensity and its polarization degree was designed. By using this apparatus, the rotational relaxation time 〈ρ〉 of the terminal segment of the fluorescent conjugates of polyacrylamide in aqueous polyacrylamide solutions was obtained as a function of polymer concentration from 0 to 65%, molecular weight of the conjugate from 3.5 × 104 to 3 × 105, and temperature from 10 to 30°C. The logarithm of 〈ρ〉 increased approximately linearly with increasing polymer concentration. This increase in 〈ρ〉, amounting to a factor of 20 times, was less marked than that in macroscopic viscosity. At concentrations less than 30%, 〈ρ〉 depended appreciably on the molecular weight of the conjugate. |
