Infrared, Raman and INS studies of poly-ethylene oxide oligomers

In the present paper the experimental findings obtained by different spectroscopic techniques on water mixtures of a protein model system, i.e. PolyEthylene Oxide (PEO), are reported. By increasing the polymerization degree m, the D-LAM spectral contribution shows a behavior of the centre frequency and of linewidth which tends to reach a constant value. Also the intramolecular OH stretching contribution, by increasing m, shows a shift which tends to flatten for polymers with molecular weight higher than Mw = 600. These results can be connected with the oligomer–polymer transition, at m = 13. When in aqueous solutions the D-LAM frequency increases towards the value corresponding to that of the crystal phase; similarly one observes also a sharpening of the D-LAM spectral contribution. These evidences suggest the presence of a more ordered conformation of PEO in water in respect to the melt phase.