Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, Vol.372, 17-23, 2002
Conformational studies of poly(ethylene oxide) in crystalline, molten, and solution phase
Raman scattering measurements were performed on Poly(Ethylene Oxide) both in the crystalline and molten phases and in aqueous solution. The spectral features of the molten state are shown to be largely different from those of the solid phase. Such a difference indicates of a loss of order and an evolution towards a far more disordered conformation. This indication is supported by the analysis of the D-LAM (acronym for Disordered Longitudinal Acoustic Mode) band for the polymeric aqueous solutions. What emerges is that, by increasing the water content, the center frequency of this mode increases (over 10 cm(-1)) and shifts towards values corresponding to the crystal ones. In order to investigate the role played by the interactive OH end groups, the CH3 terminated species corresponding to the same degree of polymerization, are therewith examined.