Some evidence of scaling behavior in the relaxation dynamics of aqueous polymer solutions

The structural relaxation behavior of aqueous solution of poly(ethylene glycol) and methoxy-capped poly(ethylene glycol), both of mean molecular mass 400 g/mol, is investigated by Brillouin scattering experiments. In both cases non-Debye relaxation processes have been detected, proceeding on the picosecond time scale. The average values of the detected relaxation time distributions fail to follow the simple Arrhenius behavior. The temperature evolution of the relaxation time is adequately fitted using the phenomenological Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman (VFT) model. In spite of the different temperature and concentration dependences observed for the two kinds of systems, with the exception of the highest samples concentrations, a unique scaling behavior has been found for the real and imaginary parts of the loss modulus plotted as a function of the reduced inverse temperature, T(0)/T, T(0) being the VFT arrest temperature. The presence of a unique scaling law in aqueous solutions of polymers characterized by different end groups suggests the establishment of similar hydrogen-bonded local structures. Within this scenario, water acts as a stabilizer and plays the main role bridging neighboring polymer chains. The possible physical interpretation of the obtained fit parameters is discussed, and the results are compared with other literature findings.