Understanding dendritic polymer–hydrocarbon interactions for oil dispersion

Abstract

This study examines the interactions of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers and hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) polymers with model linear and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Large-scale complexations were formed for both types of dendritic polymers hosting the linear but not the polyaromatic hydrocarbon. Furthermore, both types of dendritic polymers exhibited a strong and comparable hosting/dispersion capacity for the polyaromatic hydrocarbon, while the hyperbranched polymers at concentrations below 30 μM showed a consistently higher hosting capacity than the dendrimers for the linear hydrocarbon. Such complexity in hosting capacity of the two types of dendritic polymers is attributed to the more hydrophobic interior and less steric hindrance of the hyperbranched polymers for the partitioning of the hydrocarbons.