Mechanical Properties of Polyelectrolyte Complex Films Based on Polyvinylamine and Carboxymethyl Cellulose

Homogeneous polyelectrolyte complex films were cast from mixtures of poly(vinylamine-co-vinylformamide) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) in 50% formic acid aqueous solution with compositions varying between CMC blended with pure polyvinylamine (PVAm) and CMC blended with pure poly(N-vinylformamide) (PNVF). The tensile strength and tensile modulus of the complex films were measured as functions of polymer ratio, molecular weight, function group …