Influence of initial chain conformation on the formation of mesoglobule phase in a dilute heteropolymer solution

We have observed, for the first time, that when the initial chain conformation changed from coil to globule, the association of linear poly(N-vinylcaprolactam-co-sodium acrylate) chains could gradually change from a reaction limited to diffusion limited process, reflected in a change of the fractal dimension of the resultant aggregates from ∼2.5 to ∼1.6. Such an influence of the initial chain conformation has been overlooked in past studies of the formation of the mesoglobule phase in a dilute heteropolymer solution.