Bundle formation in polyelectrolyte brushes

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Dec 19;101(25):258303. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.258303. Epub 2008 Dec 19.

Abstract

Bundle formation of the vertically oriented polyelectrolytes within polyelectrolyte brushes is studied with x-ray reflectivity and grazing-incidence diffraction as a function of grafting density and ion concentration. At 0.8 Molar monomer concentration and without added salt, a bundle consists of two chains and is 50 A long. On the addition of up to 1M CsCl, the aggregation number increases up to 15 whereas the bundle length approaches a limiting value, 20 A. We suggest that the bundle formation is determined by a balance between long-ranged electrostatic repulsion, whose range and amplitude is decreased on salt addition, and short-ranged attraction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cesium / chemistry
  • Chlorides / chemistry
  • Electrolytes / chemistry*
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

  • Chlorides
  • Electrolytes
  • Polymers
  • Cesium
  • cesium chloride