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Spherical polyelectrolyte brushes

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With increasing concentration of oppositely charged linear polyelectrolytes, the spherical brush undergoes swelling (left), collapse (middle), and re-swelling (right).

Work by Ran Ni, Dapeng Cao, and Wenchuan Wang at the Lab of Molecular and Materials Simulation, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, and Arben Jusufi at Princeton University.

They studied the conformational behavior of a coarse-grained model of spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPB) in aqueous solutions containing oppositely charged linear polyelectrolytes (LPs). The snapshots show that with increasing concentration of LPs, the SPB undergoes swelling (left), collapse (middle), and re-swelling (right).

Related publications

  • Conformation of a Spherical Polyelectrolyte Brush in the Presence of Oppositely Charged Linear Polyelectrolytes, R. Ni, D. Cao, W. Wang, and A. Jusufi, Macromolecules 41, 5477 (2008). doi:10.1021/ma800827x