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Poly(ethylene glycol)s in Semidilute Regime: Radius of Gyration in the Bulk and Partitioning into a Nanopore

Journal Article · · Macromolecules
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [1]
  1. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (United States). Section on Molecular Transport
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biology and Soft Matter Division
  3. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States). Department of Physics
  4. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences

In this work, using two approaches, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) from bulk solutions and nanopore conductance-fluctuation analysis, we studied structural and dynamic features of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) water/salt solutions in the dilute and semidilute regimes. SANS measurements on PEG 3400 at the zero-average contrast yielded the single chain radius of gyration (Rg) over 1–30 wt %. We observed a small but statistically reliable decrease in Rg with increasing PEG concentration: at 30 wt % the chain contracts by a factor of 0.94. Analyzing conductance fluctuations of the α-hemolysin nanopore in the mixtures of PEG 200 with PEG 3400, we demonstrated that polymer partitioning into the nanopore is mostly due to PEG 200. Specifically, for a 1:1 wt/wt mixture the smaller polymer dominates to the extent that only about 1/25 of the nanopore volume is taken by the larger polymer. In conclusion, these findings advance our conceptual and quantitative understanding of nanopore polymer partitioning; they also support the main assumptions of the recent “polymers-pushing-polymers” model.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1424464
Journal Information:
Macromolecules, Journal Name: Macromolecules Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 50; ISSN 0024-9297
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (4)

Compressive resistance of granular-scale microgels: From loose to dense packing journal September 2018
Entropic effect implication for change in polymer coils swelling state in the demixing enthalpy recovery of aqueous poly(vinyl methyl ether) solutions journal December 2018
Quantitative determination of the spring entropy effect and its indication of the conformational change of polymer coils with varying concentration in aqueous poly( N -isopropylamide) solutions journal January 2019
Anomalous packing and dynamics of a polymer chain confined in a static porous environment journal November 2018

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