Viscosity Behavior of P(DAC-AM) with Serial Cationicity and Intrinsic Viscosity in Inorganic Salt Solutions

The poly(acryloyloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride-co-acrylamide), P(DAC-AM), is a kind of cationic polyelectrolyte usually applied in a solution form, and its performance is affected by its structure and the environment where it is used. In particular, its viscosity properties in salt solutions are directly related to its efficacy in various applications, and the performance is one of the most important solution properties. Therefore, in this paper, the effects of the salt concentration and valence of seven kinds of inorganic salts, NaCl, LiCl, KCl, MgCl2, AlCl3, Na2SO4, and Na3PO4, on the values of apparent viscosity (eta(a)) of P(DAC-AM) samples with cationicity of 10%, 50%, and 90%, and intrinsic viscosity ([eta]) of 5, 10, and 15 dL/g were investigated. The eta(a) was determined using a rotational viscometer. The interaction mechanism between the polymers and salt ions was also investigated. The results showed that depending on the salt concentration, the eta(a) firstly decreased sharply to the inflection point which indicated the minimum volume of the molecule shrinking, and then either maintained the value unchanged or increased. The salt concentration corresponding to the inflection point decreased with the increase of the salt ion valence but with the reduction of the cationicity of the polymer. The eta(a) at the inflection point increased as the [eta] of the polymer grew. This indicated that the salt concentration and the salt ion valence had a notable impact on the stretch of the cationic polymer molecule in the salt solutions. It was discovered that the phenomenon of the increase of the eta(a) of P(DAC-AM) samples in the multivalent salt solutions after the inflection point was caused by not only the increase of the eta(a) of the complexes formed from the pure salts, but also the viscosity resistance of the charge and volume between the polymer molecules and salt ions, as well as the complexes themselves. The linear relationship between the increased eta(a) and the salt concentration, representing the interaction both among the complexes themselves and between the polymer and complexes, was obtained. Furthermore, the interaction model between the salt ions and P(DAC-AM) molecules in a wide range of salt concentrations was illustrated.