Moisture sorption of polyelectrolyte complex between poly(acrylic acid) and poly(4‐vinylpyridine)

Successive differential sorptions have been measured for the system polyelectrolyte complex of poly(acrylic acid)/poly(4‐vinylpyridine) + water vapor. The sorption data revealed that the sorption process of water vapor in the complex is controlled not only by diffusion mechanism but also by relaxation mechanism of polymer chains. It has been considered that the complex is composed of a loosely crosslinked, slightly ionized, and relatively homogeneous network structure. The sorption–desorption kinetics have also been investigated for the region of intermediate and high vapor pressures. The interval sorption–desorption curves demonstrated that the complex has the nature of the hysteresis effect in sorptions. It has been concluded that the appearance of sorption hysteresis is due to the depression of mobility of polymer chains resulting from crosslinks between carboxyl groups and pyridine rings.