The Viscosity of Extremely Low Concentrated Anionic Polyelectrolyte Solutions

Polyelectrolytes are macromolecules which carry a large quantity of ionizable groups along their chains. By dissolving them in suitable solvents, for example water, these groups dissociate in highly charged macroions and an equivalent quantity of low-molecular counter ions. Through the connection between polymer and electrolyte properties this class of materials obtains its peculiar characteristic behaviour. The experiments undertaken here, were carried out using a commercial, anionic polyacrylamide with different hydrolysis factors in aqueous solutions. The reduced viscosity reaches a maximum which depends on the polymer concentration. The maximum also depends on the molar mass and is a function of the hydrolysis factor of the polymer.