Polyelectrolyte complexes IV. Interpolyelectrolyte complexes between some polycations with N,N-dimethyl-2-hydroxypropyleneammonium chloride units and poly(sodium styrenesulfonate) in dilute aqueous solution

We report first on the interpolyelectrolyte complex formation (PEC) between one polycation of integral type having about 95 mol% of N,N-dimethyl-2-hydroxypropyleneammonium chloride units in the backbone (PCA₅) and poly(sodium styrenesulfonate) (NaPSS), in dependence on the polyion concentrations and the mixing order. The PEC formation was qualitatively followed by viscometry, conductometry and UV-spectroscopy. Quasi-soluble PECs could be formed in the polyion concentration range of 0.1-1.0 unit mM. A complex stoichiometry close to 1:1 was found by both the qualitative measurements on the formation of quasi-soluble PEC in dilute aqueous solutions (when PCA₅ concentration was lower than the overlap concentration, C<C^∗) and elemental analyses of the insoluble PEC formed at the high polycation concentration (50 unit mM, C?C^∗). The influence of the ionic strength on the PECs stability was followed by the subsequent addition of NaCl up to an ionic strength of 3.5 M on the reaction mixture, after the PECs formation with three polycations different by both the content of quaternary ammonium salt groups in the backbone and the degree of branching (PCA₅, PCA₂₀ and PCT₂₀). No dissociation of PECs into the original components was evidenced irrespective of the polycation structure and the mixing order.