NEUTRON-SCATTERING AND COMPRESSIBILITY MEASUREMENTS FOR THE STUDY OF HYDRATION EFFECTS ON POLYMERIC AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS

The present paper reports the results of compressibility and incoheren t quasi-elastic neutron scattering measurements performed on polymeric systems and on their aqueous solutions. From the compressibility data , the temperature evolution of the polymer hydration number can be der ived. On the other hand, neutron data show that the translational diff usion coefficient D-T turns out to be higher in the case of ethylene g lycol + water, with respect to that of pure, suggesting that the water molecules act as a structure breaker,, of the intermolecular connecti vity existing into the pure. Furthermore the dynamical properties of t he H2O molecules in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol) deeply diffe r from those in the bulk, and show that we are in the presence of enta ngled water.