Phase Separation Phenomena and Viscosity Enhancements in

• Interactions between poly(styrenesu1fonate) (PSS) and poly(acry1ic acid) (PA) in aqueous solution have been studied, with and without added salt, and at various degrees of neutralization (a) of PA. Equilibrium phase diagrams have been determined, and the viscosities of monophasic mixtures have been measured. Both types of experiments reveal striking effects of a on the PA-PSS interactions. Salt-free mixtures with fully or partially neutralized poly(acry1ic acid) phase separate segregatively, except at very low a where, instead, an association between PA and PSS occurs. The association is evidenced by a dramatically increased viscosity, relative to solutions of PA or PSS alone, in semidilute mixtures. Addition of salt (1 M NaC1) results in an increased two-phase area at all a, and in the appearance of an associative phase separation for non-neutralized PA. The qualitative phase behavior observed in the presence of salt can be generated by calculations using the Flory-Huggins theory, if it is assumed that both the PSS-PA and the PA-solvent interactions change monotonically with a in a specified fashion. All experimental observations, and the theoretical modeling, suggest that the effective PA-PSS interaction changes (over a narrow interval of a) from an attraction at very low a to a repulsion at higher a.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Polymer compatibility

Ternary-systems

Complexes

Solvent

Salt

Surfactant

Polyelectrolyte

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)