COMPETITIVE INTERACTIONS IN POLYMER-COLLOID SYSTEM - POLY(STYRENE-CO-MALEIC ACID)-POLY(ETHYLENE OXIDE)-AEROSIL-WATER IN THE PRESENCE OF LOW-MOLECULAR-WEIGHT ELECTROLYTE

The effect of low-molecular-weight electrolyte (sodium chloride) on th e state of a three-component polymer-colloid system-poly(styrene-co-ma leic acid) (PSMA)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-Aerosil (SiO2)-in a solut ion at a different order of mixing and contact times of components as well as on the state of the colloid particle surface was studied. It w as established that the composition and structure of products of compe titive interactions in a system varied upon the addition of NaCl. Cont rary to the layer-by-layer arrangement in an aqueous medium, in the el ectrolyte solution a mixed adsorbed layer composed of both polymers is formed at the surface of aggregated SiO2 particles upon addition of P SMA to the SiO2-PEO mixture. When the order of addition of polymers is reversed, low-molecular-weight electrolyte tends to dramatically redu ce the stability of ternary polymer-colloid complex formed in a soluti on, thus resulting in a more pronounced dependence of the state of a s ystem on contact time. The phenomena observed are discussed in terms o f the variation of energy of pair interactions in a water-salt medium.