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Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy Study of Probe Diffusion in Poly(vinyl alcohol) Solutions and Gels
Author(s) -
MichelmanRibeiro Ariel,
Boukari Hacène,
Nossal Ralph,
Horkay Ferenc
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200550922
Subject(s) - vinyl alcohol , fluorescence correlation spectroscopy , diffusion , rhodamine , monomer , polymer , fluorescence , aqueous solution , analytical chemistry (journal) , polymer chemistry , particle (ecology) , fluorescence spectroscopy , spectroscopy , chemistry , cross link , materials science , particle size , chromatography , molecule , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , optics , physics , quantum mechanics , geology , oceanography
In this study, we demonstrate how the diffusion of probe particles in aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solutions and gels is affected by: (i) the presence of cross‐links, (ii) the cross‐link density, (iii) the polymer concentration. We apply fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to measure the diffusion time of a rhodamine‐based fluorescent particle (TAMRA) and TAMRA‐labeled dextran in PVA solutions and gels prepared at various polymer concentrations (1% to 8.6% w/v) and cross‐link densities (1/400 to 1/50 cross‐link monomers per PVA monomers). The measurements indicate that the probe particles are slowed down with increasing polymer concentration and with increasing cross‐link density. Also, FCS can detect differences in the diffusion times measured in “fresh” and “aged” PVA solutions. We find that FCS provides a quantitative measure of network inhomogeneities.