Solution properties of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)

Abstract

Abstract The results obtained by light scattering and viscosity measurements on unfractionated samples of poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) dissolved in methanol and in water seem to show that the chain molecules assume different conformations in the two solvents. In methanol solutions at 25°C, poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) (poly[1‐( N ‐isopropylaminocarbonyl)ethylene]) molecules apparently behave as normal flexible chains, whereas in aqueous solutions at the same temperature the interactions between polymer molecules and the solvent seem to produce chain uncoiling toward more extended structures which become unstable at higher temperatures.