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 sam ples of poly(oxyethylene) (POE) of different molar masses, ranging fro m 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 high er molar masses, a helical conformation appears the most likely explan ation.