| Abstract: | The binding of 4′-dibutylaminoazobenzene-4-sulfonate (butyl orange, BO) and 1-amino-4-methylaminoanthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQ) by crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone and the competition between BO and AQ for binding sites of the polymer were examined. The equilibrium data showed competitive binding. Thus the intrinsic binding constants and the number of binding sites can be evaluated easily and precisely by competitive binding. The thermodynamic parameters that accompained the binding were calculated from the intrinsic binding constant and its temperature-dependence. The thermodynamic data for BO showed that the binding process is athermal and stabilized entirely by the entropy term. The binding of BO to the polymer is entropically favorable as a result of the operation of the hydrophobic effect. In contrast, with AQ a favorable free energy for a dye-polymer complex formation is associated with a large negative enthalpy and a small entropy. Therefore it is likely that the binding of AQ occurs by energetic forces and that the large aromatic ring of the dye contributes to the binding energy. On the average, BO and AQ can bind to the crosslinked polymer to the extent of 1 dye/ca 73 basemol in 0.1M tris-acetate buffer, pH 7.0. |
