Effect of salts on the electrical conductance of a fluorine-containing poly(carboxylic acid), PPFNA

Electrical conductance and other solution properties of aqueous solutions of a fluorine-containing poly(carboxylic acid), (poly(9H,9H-perfluoro-2,5-dimethyl-3,6-dioxa-8-nonenoic acid), PPFNA) were studied with special attention to the salt effect. This polymer dissociated strongly resulting in a low pH value in unneutralized state (β = 0, β: degree of neutralization). The specific conductance was the highest at β = 0 and decreased as β increased. A considerable increase in conductance was observed by titrating NaCl at low β, because large amounts of bound protons were released by addition of NaCl. The amounts of released protons exceeded those originally dissociated at β = 0. Such an anomalous proton liberation suggests that this polymer is a fairly strong polyacid but not a typical one such as poly(styrene sulfonic acid). Under fully neutralized state (β = 1), however, the solution conductance was lower than the sum of the polymer and NaCl added, due to polyion–salt ion interaction.