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The present work is devoted to the study of the complex formation of polymer gel with organic dye and their properties in the aqueous salt solutions. Two systems were studied: 1) polyelectrolyte gel based on poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and water soluble oppositely charged organic dyes (alizarin red S and catechol violet) and 2) organogel based on poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) and dithizone. The collapse of the polyelectrolyte gels in the presence of oppositely charged dyes together with the effective absorption of dyes was observed. The shrinking degree and the dye absorption by the gel depends on the dye concentration. In the case of PVCa gel in organic media the dye absorption takes place. The main attention has been concentrated on the study of the behaviour of gel/dye complex immersed in the salt solution if dye is the chelating ligand for metal ions. It was shown that polyelectrolyte gels generally form stable complexes with oppositely charged dyes. The behaviour of PVCa-dithizone-chloroform system was studied in AgNO 3 aqueous solution. The release of dithizone to the external aqueous solution of AgNO 3 reservoir is completely suppressed. Absorption spectra of gel/dye and gel/dye/metal ion systems were studied. It was shown that metal ions penetrate inside the gel phase and the dye/metal ion complexes form within the gel. The dependence of the optical density for the systems of gel/dye/metal ion on the salt concentration is observed.

We describe the results of theoretical and experimental studies of the regular heterogeneities on a nanometer scale which are formed in the systems containing weakly charged polyelectrolytes due to the competition of ionic and hydrophobic interactions. In particular, we consider the effect of microphase separation in poor solvent polyelectrolyte solutions and gels and nano-self-assemblies emerging in the complexes of polyelectrolyte gels with oppositely charged surfactants. The practically important application connected with metal nanoparticles formation in regular microstructures in polyelectrolyte systems is considered as well.

Three actual problems connected with the collapse transition of polyelectrolyte gels in poor solvent are reviewed. (i) The first topic is the appearance of microstructures for polyelectrolyte gels in poor enough solvents. Three reasons for microsegregation are discussed: effect of polyelectrolyte – hydrophobic competition, effect of the formation of multiplets from ionic pairs in the ionomer regime and the effect of partial formation of glassy kinetically frozen polymer rich regions. (ii) Second we analyze the interaction of the gels with polymers which are capable to form complexes with the gel chains. Main experimental results are presented for poly(methacrylic acid) gels interacting with poly(ethylene oxide), (iii) Finally, we consider the problem of interaction of polyelectrolyte gels with the sufactants. The micelle formation of surfactants inside the gel and its consequences for the conformational properties of the gel are discussed in detail.