Volume phase transition of polyelectrolyte gels in dimethyl sulfoxide/ tetrahydrofuran mixtures

Copolymer gels were prepared from 2-(acrylamido)-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS), N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA, comonomer) and N,N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) (BIS). The mole fraction of AMPS were 0.2674 and 0.4318, respectively, with the same BIS mole fraction of 0.013. These gels with counterions H⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺ were swollen at 25°C in mixtures of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and tetrahydrofuran (THF). A volume phase transition was observed at the THF volume fraction of about 0.58, indicating that the volume phase transition in a polyelectrolyte gel occurs when the medium polarity decreases sufficiently for ion-pair formation. On changing the counterion, the fraction of DMSO in the solvent mixture which is required to initiate swelling decreases in the order Na⁺, H⁺, and K⁺, the same as for counterion condensation in identical gels.