Interaction of a polycation with divinyl ether-maleic anhydride copolymer in aqueous and aqueous-saline solutions

The interaction of a hydrolyzed divinyl ether-maleic anhydride copolymer with a poly(N-ethyl-4-vinylpyridinium) cation, which leads to the formation of both water-soluble and insoluble polyelectrolyte complexes, was studied by potentiometry and turbidimetry. Phase diagrams of aqueous and aqueous-saline solutions of polymer mixtures were constructed and compared with those of mixtures of the same polycation and a polymethacrylate anion. It was shown that water-soluble systems that undergo phase separation at specified values of pH and ionic strength may be prepared via complex formation on the basis of the copolymer under study.