| Abstract: | The viscosity behaviour of polyelectrolytes in solutions of low ionic strength has been investigated. The dependence of the viscosity on the degree of substitution, the molecular weight and the velocity gradient was studied in detail. The measurements were carried out in solutions of different ionic strength and the limiting intrinsic viscosity at zero ionic strength was determined by extrapolation. It was found that at zero ionic strength the exponent in the KUHN -MARK -HOUWINK equation has the value a = 1.1. It was further found that the intrinsic viscosities in the low and medium molecular weight region were considerably higher than those expected for rigid rodlike molecules of comparable size. The exceptionally high values of the intrinsic viscosity in solutions of low ionic strength indicate the presence of a pronounced “electroviscous effect” in these solutions. |
