| Abstract: | Poly(methacrylic acid) has been studied in 0.002N HCl–ethanol mixtures as a function of molecular weight. A different dependence on molecular weight is noted at different alcohol concentrations. Since the intrinsic viscosity passes through a series of extrema with changes in alcohol concentration, the dependence on molecular weight has been considered in two regions of alcohol concentration in particular. The region of the first minimum and the region of the second minimum (or overall maximum). In the region of the first minimum, intrinsic viscosity is proportional to M½, just as in 0.002N HCl. The Huggins coefficient k′ is large (ca. 60) but drops to about 10 when the molecular weight exceeds 320,000. In the region of the second minimum the dependence on molecular weight is complex. Intrinsic viscosity is proportional to molecular weight both at low and at high molecular weight and thus indicates freely draining structures. There is a conformational contraction, however, at molecular weight about 320,000 leading from one type of structure to the other. The structure at higher molecular weight may involve a specially strong bond between specifically grouped segments in the chain. The positions of the extrema along the alcohol concentration axis are not molecular weight dependent, particularly above 320,000. Results available for molecular weight dependence in methanol agree well with this picture. The present results confirm prediction inherent in the model of Silberberg and Priel and Silberberg. |
