Adsorption and Inhibition Properties of Associates Based on Water-Soluble Polymers

It was established on the basis of a set of physico-chemical data that polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) are formed in a solution containing cation-active oligomers and low-molecular compounds. Herewith, the composition, structure, and stability of PECs depend on the ratio and nature of the initial ingredients. It was shown that the PECs formed in situ feature considerably higher adsorptivity on different interfaces as compared to the initial oligomers. This is due to an increase in the hydrophobicity of macroparticles under association and their enhanced displacement to the interface by the solvent and also an increase in the interaction of the PEC functional groups with the electrode surface due to conformation changes in the surface layer. An inhibiting effect of PECs in the case of Zn(II) ion discharge in polycrystalline electrode and that of Cd(II) on amalgam electrodes is considerably higher than in the case of the initial polyelectrolytes at similar concentrations, which is mainly due to the steric inhibition effect.