Abstract
Abstract To clarify the mechanism of polymer complex formation between counter-charged polymers, kinetic and equilibrium experiments concerning the complexation of poly(l-α-glutamic acid) (PGA) with poly (l-α-lysine) (PLL) were performed at around pH 5.5 by the stopped-flow method. The reaction kinetics observed with electric conductivity detection and direct proton detection using the hydrogen ion-sensitive field-effect transistor suggests that the complex formation between these polymers proceeds through two processes of a fast proton release within 10 ms and a slow proton uptake within a few seconds. Further experiments using the various chain lengths of PGA and a variety of combinations of polymers and their counter-charged small ion, (e.g., PGA and amines or metal ions, PLL and carboxylic acids) have revealed that slow proton uptake in their complex formation is specific for a system which includes both a polymer and its counter-charged ions of divalent or more, and that this proton uptake is due to rearrangement of the polymer after fast electrostatic binding as a cooperative process.
Published Version
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