The Interaction between Polyelectrolyte Microgels of N-Isopropylacrylamide Copolymers and Aqueous Solutions of Alcian Blue

The temperature influence on the behavior of microgels based on poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPA) homopolymer, N-isopropylacrylamide copolymers with sodium methacrylate (PNIPA/MANa), sodium styrenesulfonate (PNIPA/SSNa), and sodium vinylsulfonate (PNIPA/VSNa) was studied. The comparative analysis of the temperature-induced collapse of macro- and microgels was conducted. The interaction between alcian blue and PNIPA, PNIPA/SSNa, PNIPA/VSNa, and PNIPA/MANa gels was studied. The research showed that dye sorption leads to the contraction of oppositely charged microgels. The sorption effectiveness depends on the nature of the ionogenic units. The dye sorption by PNIPA/SSNa microgels is more effective than the sorption by the corresponding macrogels. The AB sorption by PNIPA/MANa microgels is less than the sorption by the corresponding macrogels and by the PNIPA/SSNa microgels. The interaction properties are connected to the structure of the crosslinked polymer chains in the microgels.