Non-linear elasticity effects and stratification in brushes of branched polyelectrolytes
Soft Condensed Matter
2025-04-04 v1
Abstract
Brushes formed by arm-tethered starlike polyelectrolytes may exhibit internal segregation into weakly and strongly extended populations (stratified two-layer structure) when strong ionic intermolecular repulsions induce stretching of the tethers up to the limit of their extensibility. We propose an approximate Poisson-Boltzmann theory for analysis of the structure of the stratified brush and compare it with results of numerical self-consistent field modelling. Both analytical and numerical models point to formation of a narrow cloud of counterions (internal double electrical layer) localized inside stratified brush at the boundary between the layers.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2504.02783,
title = {Non-linear elasticity effects and stratification in brushes of branched polyelectrolytes},
author = {Inna O. Lebedeva and Oleg V. Shavykin and Igor M. Neelov and Ekaterina B. Zhulina and Frans A. M. Leermakers and Oleg V. Borisov},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.02783},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
21 pages, 9 figures, published in The Journal of Chemical Physics