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Acidity Constant Estimation of Weakly Acidic Polyelectrolyte by Linear Approximation: A Case Study for Polyphosphate via Gran’s Approach

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Abstract

The acidity constant values (Ka or pKa) and polyionic species distribution are valuable tools to identify the extent of ionization and complexing properties of polyionic species. They are of great importance to predict the charged state of analyte and choose the appropriate condition in the design of functional materials for their intended purposes. Polyphosphates, being one of the anionic types of polyelectrolytes, have attracted interest for utilization in a quite wide range of applications in the boundaries of nanomaterial, bio-analytical chemistry, and physical sciences. In this study, it is aimed to estimate the intrinsic pK oa of polyphosphoric acid (PPH) with high molar mass and the charge of its polyanionic conjugate base (PP−), \((Z_{{\text{PP}}^{-}})\), according to activity coefficient estimation by Davies using potentiometric titration along with the theoretical consideration of Gran’s approach. Besides, a series of PPH titration was simulated via CurTiPot and the data were further treated in MATLAB to visualize the 3-D pH surfaces of PPH/PP− pairs. As a result, the outcomes of experimental work and simulations were consistent very well, and pK oa of PPH and \(Z_{{\text{PP}}^{-}}\) were found as 2.22 ± 0.01 and − 1.105 ± 0.003, respectively, at a 95% confidence interval.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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The author greatly thanks Istanbul Technical University (ITU) for providing MATLAB R2018b facilities.

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    Nejla Cini

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N.C. contributed to the study conception and design, performed material preparation, data collection and analysis, wrote the first draft, revised, edited, read, and approved the final manuscript.

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Cini, N. Acidity Constant Estimation of Weakly Acidic Polyelectrolyte by Linear Approximation: A Case Study for Polyphosphate via Gran’s Approach. J Solution Chem 52, 823–837 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10953-023-01275-2

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