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Effect of poly(acrylic acid) molecular mass and end‐group functionality on calcium oxalate crystal morphology and growth
Author(s) -
East Christopher P.,
Wallace Andrew D.,
AlHamzah Ali,
Doherty William O. S.,
Fellows Christopher M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.31342
Subject(s) - calcium oxalate , oxalate , chemistry , calcium , crystallization , acrylic acid , moiety , desorption , crystal (programming language) , molecular mass , crystal growth , polymer chemistry , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , crystallography , polymer , adsorption , copolymer , enzyme , computer science , programming language
A number of series of poly(acrylic acids) (PAA) of differing end‐groups and molecular mass were used to study the inhibition of calcium oxalate crystallization. The effects of the end‐group on crystal speciation and morphology were significant and dramatic, with hexyl‐isobutyrate end groups giving preferential formation of calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD) rather than the more stable calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM), while both more hydrophobic end‐groups and less‐hydrophobic end groups led predominantly to formation of the least thermodynamically stable form of calcium oxalate, calcium oxalate trihydrate. Conversely, molecular mass had little impact on calcium oxalate speciation or crystal morphology. It is probable that the observed effects are related to the rate of desorption of the PAA moiety from the crystal (lite) surfaces and that the results point to a major role for end‐group as well as molecular mass in controlling desorption rate. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010