Structures and Properties of Polyelectrolyte Complexes Consisting of Methyl Glycol Chitosan, (Carboxymethyl) dextran and Poly (vinyl sulfate)

Abstract

The degree of dissociation of polyelectrolytes and their conformation are appreciably influenced by the hydrogen ion concentration. On this point of view, polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) by mixing methyl glycol chitosan (MGC) with the mixture of (carboxymethyl)dextran (CMD) and poly(vinyl sulfate) (PVSK) were prepared at various concentrations of hydrogen ion and in different order of mixing.
As a result of the experiment, many kinds of PEC were prepared and these are classified into three groups by means of elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, colorimetric reactions with toluidin blue and solubilities of PEC. The first group was PEC prepared in a concentrated acidic solution, which were composed of MGC and PVSK connected by the ionic bonding with each other. The second group is PEC formed in the solution of higher pH, which were made up of MGC, CMD and PVSK linked by the ionic bonding with one another. The last is the group in the solution of lower pH, which were also constituted MGC, CMD and PVSK, and had more complex three dimentional network structure.
It is possible to cast PEC into membranes with a ternary solvent system (HCH, 4-dioxane-water), and it is revealed that uniform and translucent membranes were obtained from all kinds of PEC.