Elasticity of ion‐exchange resin beads in solvent mixtures

Abstract The effect of the solvent composition on the elasticity of strong and weak cation‐ and anion‐exchange resin beads was studied. Poly(styrene‐ co ‐divinylbenzene) resins containing sulfonic acid or quaternary ammonium groups and an acrylic acid resin crosslinked with divinylbenzene were immersed in water, NaCl solutions, or aqueous alcohol solutions and the shear modulus was measured with a uniaxial compression method. The elastic data were compared with the swelling properties. In pure water the shear moduli increased when the crosslink density, counterion valence, counterion size, and functional group size increased. Two additional phenomena in the elastic behavior were observed when the swelling degree of the resins was changed by the addition of alcohol or salt. A decrease of the modulus was observed when moving from the fully swollen state to a less swollen state, and a steep upturn of the modulus took place at a characteristic swelling region. The depth of the minimum and the location of the transition from the rubbery to the glassy state depended on the characteristics of the resins. The finite expansibility of the polymer chains and the glass transition explained these findings. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 1256–1264, 2001