ABSTRACT
The study of the properties and behavior of polyelectrolytes in aqueous solution forms a very important but at the same time very complex and extensive offshoot of that of nonionic polymers in aqueous solution. For with polyelectrolytes, in addition to the complexities already inherent in polymer systems and in aqueous systems, there are now added the particular features and complexities of electrolyte systems. Compared with nonionic polymers, the novel properties and behavior which are seen with polyelectrolytes arise from two main features, i.e., the presence of fixed charges on the polymer chain, and the presence of more or less free oppositely charged counterions in the bulk of the solution. A topic of central importance with all polyelectrolytes is the manner in which the polyion interacts with its counterions, the phenomenon broadly referred to as "counterion binding".
