Abstract
Laboratory-made samples of the polysaccharide xylinan (acetan) were
fractionated on Sepharose Cl-2B using 0.1M NaCl as eluant. The weight
average molar masses and intrinsic viscosities were estimated in
the fractions by multiangle laser light scattering (off-line) and
capillary viscometry, respectively. The Mauk-Houwink-Sakurada plot
was found to be indicative of semiflexible coils (a = 0.90). The
angular dependence of scattered Eight was interpreted by fitting
with theoretically calculated ''Master Curves'' in terms of a wormlike
chain model. The ambiguity of the interpretation of scattering curves
owing to the overlapping effects of chain stiffness and polydispersity
is discussed in detail The experimental data is found to be consistent
with a persistence length of L(p) = 100 nm. The main proportion consists
of double-stranded chains (consistent with a robust double-helix),
but single- and multistranded chains also are present. Our results
suggest a fractionation according to the contour length rather than
the molar mass. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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