NMR investigations of the structure of water-soluble poly(ethylene oxide) complexes with polystyrene sulfonate copolymers

Abstract. Macromolecular complexes of styrene sulfonate copolymers, poly(vinyl phenol-co-styrene sulfonate) (PKS) and poly(styrene-co-styrene sulfonate) (PS-co-SSS) with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in aqueous solution were studied by NMR. The shift to lower frequency of the 1H chemical shift for the PEO ethylene group and the existence of strong nuclear Overhauser effect cross-peaks between the aromatic rings of PKS and the ethylene proton of PEO indicated that aromatic rings interacted with the PEO ethylene groups. Since the spectra of PS-co-SSS/PEO mixtures revealed complexes with structures similar to those formed with the phenolic copolymers, it was concluded that hydrogen bonding was not necessary for complex formation.