Solvent isotope effect on sol–gel transition of methylcellulose studied by DSC

• Published in: Polymer bulletin (Berlin, Germany) Vol. 71; no. 6; pp. 1441 - 1448
• Main Author: Miura, Yoshinori
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2014; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Aqueous solutions; Cellulose; Cellulose and derivatives; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Complex Fluids and Microfluidics; Cooling; Entropy; Exact sciences and technology; Hydrogen bonds; Isotope effect; Natural polymers; Organic Chemistry; Original Paper; Phase transitions; Physical Chemistry; Physicochemistry of polymers; Polyisopropyl acrylamide; Polymer Sciences; Polymers; Soft and Granular Matter; Sol-gel processes; Solvents; Temperature; Solvent isotope effect; Hydrophobic interaction; Differential scanning calorimetry; Water cage-like structure; Methylcellulose; Sol–gel transition; Solvent effect; Heavy water; Isotope effect; Cellulose derivatives; Cellulose(methyl); Aqueous solution; Experimental study; Sol gel transition; Acrylamide derivative polymer; Cellulose ether
• ISSN: 0170-0839; 1436-2449
• DOI: 10.1007/s00289-014-1134-1

Methylcellulose (MC), a hydrophobically modified cellulose derivative, in an aqueous solution undergoes sol-to-gel and gel-to-sol transitions on heating and cooling, respectively. Using differential scanning calorimetry, MC in light (H 2 O) and heavy (D 2 O) water solutions has been investigated to elucidate the solvent isotope effect on the transitions. As a result, their transition temperatures are higher in H 2 O by about 4 °C than D 2 O. This phenomenon is rationalized in terms of the strength of the hydrophobic attractive interaction; the strength is enhanced by D 2 O. We discuss the reason for the enhancement and the difference in the isotope effect between MC and a poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) polymer which shows an opposite trend to MC.