Journal article - hyperbranched polyglycidols

The journal Macromolecules (IF 5.1) published an article co-authored by our employees in cooperation with the Centre for Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences [D. Jaworska-Krych, M. Gosecka, P. Maczugowska, K. Hałagan, K. Szutkowski, M. Gosecki, M. Urbaniak, M. Kozanecki, „Thermosensitive Behavior of Internally Phenyl-Enriched Hyperbranched Polyglycidols in Water - The Influence of a Covalent Bond Used for the Hydrophobization”, Macromolecules 57 (19), 9135-9156 (2024)], in which the influence of temperature on the phase transition in the systems of hyperbranched polyglycidol derivatives with water was studied. Using computer simulations, it was possible to explain the experimentally observed unusual behavior as a function of temperature. Only in a very low concentration range polymers exhibit a decrease of critical temperature with the increase of the polymer concentration. It was a result from the screening of the hydrophobic groups within highly water-swollen polyether branches upon the increase of the polymer concentration. The phase separation of higher-concentrated solutions required a further increase in temperature, resulting in partial dehydration of the polyether branches, which increased the hydrophobicity of the macromolecules, and the separation of the polymer from the aqueous solution was attained.