The polycondensation reaction between ethylenediaminetetraacetic dianhydride and 1,4-diaminobutane in various aprotic polar solvents is being exploited to create a novel linear aliphatic polymer poly(amic acid) (PAA). PAA samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and Carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy resulting in the identification of characteristic absorption bands and thereby verifying successful synthesis. Gel permeation chromatography confirmed narrow molecular weight distributions with polydispersity indices ranging from 1.2 to 2.2 and reported low number average molecular weights ranging from 4000 to 6000 g mol(-1). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis showed the presence of nitrogen on the surface and also found nitrogen to be homogenously distributed throughout the bulk of the PAA samples. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.