Solution properties of ion‐containing polymers in polar solvents

Abstract

AbstractThe placement of ionic groups within the molecular structure of a polymer produces marked modification in physical properties. A large number of studies have been performed on these ion‐containing polymers, but few have focused on the effects of anion–cation interactions (i.e., counterion binding or ionization) on hydrodynamic volume, especially as the molecular structure of the solvent and nature of counterion are varied. In this study changes in hydrodynamic volume are followed through reduced viscosity measurements as a function of the abovementioned molecular parameters.The dilute solution properties of various polyelectrolytes that contain sulfonate and carboxylate groups were investigated as a function of the counterion structure, charge density, molecular weight, and solvent structure. The polymeric materials were selected because of their specific chemical structure and physical properties. In the first instance a (2‐acrylamide‐2 methylpropanesulfonic acid)‐acrylamide‐sodium vinyl sulfonate terpolymer was synthesized and subsequently neutralized with a series of bases. Viscometric measurements on these materials indicate that the nature of the cation affects the ability of the polyelectrolyte to expand its hydrodynamic volume at low polymer levels. The magnitude of the molecular expansion is shown to be due in part to the ability of the counterion to dissociate from the backbone chain, which, in turn, is directly related to the solvent structure. The changes in solution behaviour of these inomers lend support for the existence of ion pairs (i.e., site binding) and ionized moieties on the polymer chains. Measurements performed in a variety of solvent systems further confirm this interpretation. In addition, and acrylamide‐sodium vinyl sulfonate copolymer was partially hydrolyzed with sodium hydroxide to study the effect of varying the charge density at a constant degree of polymerization and counterion structure. The results show that the charge density has a significant effect on the magnitude of the reduced viscosity and dilute solution behaviour. These observations, made in aqueous and nonaqueous solvents, are related to the interrelation of hydrodynamic volume, counterion concentration, and site binding. Again the controlling factor is the degree of site binding of the counterion onto the polymer backbone. Finally, we observe that the increased hydrodynamic volume affects viscosity behavior beyond the polyelectrolyte effect regime. If the average charge density on the macromolecule is relative high and/or the molecular weight is large (≥ 106) sufficient intermolecular interactions will occur to produce rapid changes in reduced viscosity.