The solution behavior of hydrophobically associating zwitterionic polymer in salt water

The acrylamide‐based hydrophobically associating zwitterionic polymer was prepared, which was composed of dimethyl‐dodecyl‐allyl ammonium chloride as hydrophobic group and carboxyl betaine 2‐(4‐acrylamido‐propyl‐dimethyl ammonic)‐sodium acetate as functional group. Hydrophobically associating polyacrylamide (HAPAM) was also prepared for comparative study. The behaviors of polymers in pure water and salt solutions were investigated by the means of apparent viscosity test, laser light scattering, atomic force microscope, and fluorescence experiments. The viscosities of polymer solution increased with the increasing of salt concentration, which indicated that the addition of salt resulted in significant antipolyelectrolyte effect in the zwitterionic polymer solution. The results of dynamic laser light scattering experiment also showed that the average hydrodynamic diameters of the zwitterionic polymer molecules increased with the increasing of salt concentration. The network structures had been observed by atomic force microscope and the addition of salt strengthened the formation of network structures. The results of fluorescence experiment showed that the addition of salt could enhance the association of hyrophobically zwitterionic polymer. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39707.