The interaction between negatively charged organic salts, with one two and three sulfonate groups respectively, and positively charged poly(2-vinylpyridine) microgel particles has been investigated. Absorption isotherms are used to describe the uptake of organic salt into the microgel network and the particle size and electrophoretic mobility of the dispersions have been discussed in terms of the electrostatic attraction between the organic salts and microgel network. The results suggest that all organic salts interact weakly with the microgel particles, and there is a tendency towards more noticeable changes in the microgel dispersion properties at lower concentration as the number of sulfonate groups within the organic salts increases.
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