Polymer Colloid Complexes Based on an Imidazolium Surfactant and Polyacrylic Acid

The forming and study of cationic surfactant/polyelectrolyte (PE) polymer colloid systems has been done at different concentrations of an amphiphilic compound and fixed polymer concentration. An imidazolium amphiphilic compound with a tetradecyl radical (IA-14) served as the surfactant; polyacrylic acid (PAA) characterized by a molecular weight of 1800 Da was used as component of the polymer. The aggregation characteristics of the systems have been examined via tensiometry, conductometry and fluorescence spectroscopy. It is shown that introducing of polyelectrolyte initiates the formation of polymer colloid complexes (PCC) at a 50 times lower concentration than the one required for an individual IA-14 system. Dynamic light scattering analysis has shown that the values of the hydrodynamic parameters of PCC lied in the range of 100–120 nm and did not depend on the concentration of the PE or the surfactant. It has been estimated via electrophoretic light scattering that electrostatic interactions make the main contribution to the formation of complexes.