INTERACTION OF NET POLYELECTROLYTES WITH OPPOSITELY CHARGED SURFACTANTS

Cooperative reactions of low cross-linked poly(acrylic acid) withcation surfactants able to form micelles giving rise to polymer-colloid complex stabilized by hydrophobic interactions were studied. The reactions were shown to be a transport of surfactant ions from solution surrounding gel into the network opposite to surfactant concentration gradient. Interaction between the network and oppositely charged surfactant ions is accompanied by nonuniform surfactant distribution in charged gel, i.e. it proceeds as afrontal heterogeneous reaction of net polyelectrolyte-surfactant polycomplex formation. Reaction equilibria were studied by means of potentiometric titration technique. Composition of the polycomplex was shown to be determined by the degree of ionization of polyacid, essentially all surfactant ions incorporated into the polycomplex being bound with network links electrostatically over a wide range of medium pH.