Polyelectrolyte multilayer formation: electrostatics and short-range interactions
Abstract
We investigate the phenomenon of multilayer formation via layer-by-layer deposition of alternating charge polyelectrolytes. Using mean-field theory, we find that a strong short-range attraction between the two types of polymer chains is essential for the formation of multilayers. The dependence of the required short-range attraction on the polymer charge fraction and salt concentration is calculated. For weak short-range attraction between any two adjacent layers, the adsorbed amount (per added layer) decays as the distance from the surface increases, until the chains stop adsorbing altogether. For strong short-range attraction, the adsorbed amount per layer increases after an initial decrease, and finally it stabilizes in the form of a polyelectrolyte multilayer that can be repeated many times.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0509157,
title = {Polyelectrolyte multilayer formation: electrostatics and short-range interactions},
author = {Adi Shafir and David Andelman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0509157},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
8 pages, 7 figures