Anomalous conformational properties of PEO in H₂O and D₂O by SANS, PCS and Raman scattering

PEO solutions in water and heavy water have been investigated using SANS, PCS and Raman spectroscopy. The employement of these techniques allows to carry out a comparison between the diffusive properties of PEO/H₂O and PEO/D₂O systems, in order to study the coil conformation dependence on temperature and concentration. The data reveal the different conformational properties of PEO in the two solvents which have been attributed to a different solvent quality of H₂O and D₂O. These results provide evidence to the fact that the properties of macromolecules, even of simple structure, can be influenced by the isotopic composition of the solvent.