INTERACTION OF POLY(OXYETHYLENE) WITH WATER AS A FUNCTION OF MOLAR-MASS

Partial base molal volume values obtained from high-precision density measurements, in conjunction with heats of dilution data, derived from flow calorimetry measurements, have been obtained for a series of samples of poly(oxyethylene) (POE) of different molar masses, ranging from 200 to 35 000 Da. The results show that the state of solution of the POE is very much dependent upon the molar mass of the polymer; at low molar masses, pair and triplet interaction coefficients suggest that the hydrophobic interaction controls solution behaviour, while at higher molar masses, a helical conformation appears the most likely explanation.