ELECTROCHEMICAL SOLUTION PROPERTIES OF POLY(VINYLBENZYLTRIALKYLAMMONIUM) SALTS

Poly(vinylbenzyltrialkylammonium) salts with alkyl groups having 1 to 8 carbon atoms on the ammonium nitrogen atom were synthesized. The pol ymers are soluble in water but have different solubility when low mole cular salts such as sodium chloride are added. The reduced solution vi scosity in water showed typical polyelectrolyte behavior. Larger alkyl groups make the polymers much less soluble and even insoluble in wate r. The polymers are still soluble in methanol. To study the counterion -polyion interactions in semidilute and dilute solution the electrical conductivity and counterion activity were investigated in a range of low polyelectrolyte concentration (10(-6) < c(p) < 10(-3) monomol/l). With decreasing concentration, below the overlap concentration, a rapi d increase of the equivalent conductivity occurred followed by a maxim um. The electrochemical solution properties were found to be influence d by the size of the substituents of the cationic group.