PNIPAM

Non-Additive Ion Effects on the Coil-Globule Equilibrium of a Generic Polymer in Aqueous Salt Solutions

Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Mixtures of weakly and strongly hydrated anions induce non-additive changes in the LCST of thermoresponsive polymers such as PNIPAM and PEO. Large-scale atomistic simulations of PNIPAM--NaI--Na$_{2}$SO$_{4}$ mixtures have shown that these effects arise from the interplay between favorable PNIPAM--iodide interactions and depletion of strongly hydrated sulfate ions. Here, we investigate whether chemically specific polymer--anion interactions are necessary...