Excluded volume of a macromolecule

{
  "id": "MLC-T-CHM-004198",
  "term": "Excluded volume of a macromolecule",
  "field": "Chemistry",
  "definition": "The effective volume from which a macromolecule in dilute solution keeps other macromolecules out. It is set by the free energy of mixing of polymer and solvent, not by the geometric size of the coil, so it is large in a good solvent, zero in a theta solvent and negative in a poor one. It is the quantity behind the second virial coefficient of a polymer solution.",
  "subject": "Polymer",
  "see_also": [
    "dilute solution"
  ],
  "references": [
    "Purple Book, 1st ed., p. 58 (http://old.iupac.org/publications/books/author/metanomski.html)"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/chemistry/excluded-volume-of-a-macromolecule/"
}