LCST and UCST behavior of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) in DMSO/water mixed solvents studied by IR and micro-Raman spectroscopy

Temperature-responsive phase separations of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAm)/dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)/water mixtures have been investigated by infrared and confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy. The ternary mixtures exhibited lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and upper critical solution temperature (UCST) phenomena at low and high DMSO concentrations, respectively. The amide I band of PNiPAm consists of two components; the intensity of the 1650 cm-1 component increased, and that of the 1625 cm-1 component decreased with increasing temperature during both LCST and UCST phase transitions. Gradual red shifts of the C-H stretching and the amide II bands with increasing temperature or increasing DMSO concentration indicate a removal of water molecules from the alkyl and N-H groups. Raman microscopic measurements showed that DMSO is excluded from the polymer-rich phases upon both LCST and UCST phase separation. On the basis of the experimental results and the quantum chemical calculations, a model that explains the solvation change of the polymer during phase transitions was proposed.