Polymer-surfactant interactions: their cooperativity and stoichiometry

Surfactant bindings with solvated and crosslinked polyelectrolytes having c harges on the side chain as well as chain backbone have been studied using various kinds of oppositely charged surfactants. We have found that there a re three categories of the surfactant binding: they are cooperative and sto ichiometric, non-cooperative and stoichiometric and cooperative and non-sto ichiometric. The modes of these categories are predominantly determined by the steric chemical structure of the surfactant, hydrophobicity and the cha rge densities of the polyelectrolytes. Process and mechanism of the surfact ant binding have been discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.