The Place of Numbers: Histories, Geographies, and Theories of Quantification

Abstract

The hydrogen-bonding interaction and interpolymer complex formation between an alternating maleic acid–vinyl acetate copolymer, (MAc-alt-VA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), polyacrylamide (PAM) or poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) in aqueous solution was potentiometrically and viscometrically investigated. MAc-alt-VA formed with PEG a strong hydrogen-bonding interpolymer complex with a compact structure, and while its interaction with PAM seems to be very weak, if any, the complex formed with PNIPAM is even stronger than that with PEG. This indicates a very important contribution of hydrophobic interaction to the formation of such hydrogen-bonding interpolymer complexes. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry