Effect of an anionic surfactant upon the viscosity of poly(ethylene glycol) in dilute solution

The reduced viscosity of poly(ethylene glycol) in solutions containing a certain concentration of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) was measured. It has been found that the Huggins coefficient k(H) and the intrinsic viscosity [eta] of polymer solution are very sensitive to the concentration of surfactants, C-AOT, in solution. If C-AOT is less than CMC, the critical micelle concentration of AOT, k(H) decreases and [eta] increases rapidly with C-AOT. On the other hand, if C-AOT is greater than CMC, k(H) increases and [eta] decreases rapidly with C-AOT. The experimental results indicate that the inter-and intra-molecular association of poly(ethylene glycol) in solution is greatly associated with AOT interacted with polymer chain.