Effect of an anionic surfactant upon the viscosity of poly(ethylene glycol) in dilute solution

Abstract

The reduced viscosity of poly(ethylene glycol) in solutions containing a certain concentration of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) was measured. It has been found that the Huggins coefficient kH and the intrinsic viscosity [η] of polymer solution are very sensitive to the concentration of surfactants, CAOT, in solution. If CAOT is less than CMC, the critical micelle concentration of AOT, kH decreases and [η] increases rapidly with CAOT. On the other hand, if CAOT is greater than CMC, kH increases and [η] decreases rapidly with CAOT. The experimental results indicate that the inter- and intra-molecular association of poly(ethylene glycol) in solution is greatly associated with AOT interacted with polymer chain.