Abstract
We study the viscosity of polystyrene sulfonate with sodium and tetrabutylammonium counterions in aqueous and organic solvent media. We find that at low concentrations, the Fuoss law (ηsp ∼ c1/2) is approximately obeyed, but at higher concentrations an exponential dependence on the polymer volume fraction sets in. These findings are discussed in terms of Fujita’s free volume theory.