Abstract
Phase separation has been studied in aqueous salt solutions of non-stoichiometric polyelectrolyte complexes formed by polyacrylic acid and linear polyethylenimine. Analysis of the phase diagrams for systems formed by the polycomplex, water and NaCl, as well as an analysis of the composition of the co-existing phases, gives evidence that phase separation in such systems is a consequence of a chemical reaction involving the redistribution of the macromolecular components between the different particles of the polycomplexes. The unusual behaviour of aqueous salt solutions of polyelectrolyte complexes is caused by the reversible nature of the formation and rupture of the intermacromolecular salt bonds in the particles of the polycomplex.
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