Molecular weight characterization of polyelectrolytes

The objectives of this work were to find valid methods to characterize the MW of HPAM or poly(acrylamide-co-sodium acrylate). The authors have hydrolyzed a series of fractionated and well-characterized PAM samples under mild alkaline conditions. The intrinsic viscosities of M̄w were measured. In anticipation that the result of these studies can be later applied to GPC calibration, the authors used Na2SO4 as electrolyte for these measurements and chosen the M̄$/w range of PAM fractions from 1.2×10⁶ to 1.4×10⁴ daltons.