Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, GR‐26504 Patras, Greece
Abstract:
The formation of complexes between Cu2+ ions and graft copolymers built from a PANa backbone and non‐ionic hydrophilic PDMAM side chains is investigated by means of turbidimetry, viscometry, DLS, ζ‐potential measurements, and UV‐vis spectrophotometry. The macroscopic phase separation which accompanies complexation is gradually depressed with increasing PDMAM content x, and water‐soluble complexes are formed for x = 70 mol‐%. The polymer/Cu2+ complexation is a charge neutralization process that leads to the formation of water‐soluble, compact, hybrid polymer/metal ion nanostructures. UV‐vis data indicate that this graft copolymer could possibly serve as a water‐soluble sensor for Cu2+ ions.
