Title: polyelectrolyte network
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - polyelectrolyte network
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.PT07223
Status: current

Definition
Polymer network containing ionic or ionizable groups in a substantial fraction of its constitutional units.

Notes
1) A polyelectrolyte network is sometimes called a crosslinked polyelectrolyte. Use of the latter term is not recommended unless the polyelectrolyte network is formed by the crosslinking of existing polyelectrolyte macromolecules rather than by non-linear polymerisation.
2) In contrast to a polyelectrolyte, a polyelectrolyte network is always insoluble, although swelling or contraction can occur when it is immersed in a solvent.
3) A polyelectrolyte network in contact with a solution of a salt is able to exchange counter-ions (cations or anions) with ionic species in the solution and act as an ion exchanger. Therefore, a polyelectrolyte network is frequently described as an ion-exchange polymer.

Related Terms
- Polymer network: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04742
- counter-ions: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/C01371
- crosslinking: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/CT07136
- ion exchanger: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03171
- ion-exchange polymer: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/IT07155
- network: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/NT07562
- polyelectrolyte: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04728
- salt: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/S05447

Source
- PAC, 2006, 78, 2067. 'Terminology of polymers containing ionizable or ionic groups and of polymers containing ions (IUPAC Recommendations 2006)' on page 2073 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac200678112067)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/PT07223/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/PT07223/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/PT07223/xml

Citation: Citation: 'polyelectrolyte network' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.PT07223
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Accessed: 2026-08-02T01:23:32+00:00