Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 62, Number 1, April 2003
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 110 - 116 | |
Section | Interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i2003-00369-6 | |
Published online | 01 March 2003 |
On the pearl size of hydrophobic polyelectrolytes
1
Laboratoire des Fluides Organisés,
CNRS UMR 7125, Collège de France 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France
2
Department of Physics, University of Surrey - Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK
Corresponding author: claudine.williams@college-de-france.fr
Received:
9
December
2002
Accepted:
22
January
2003
Hydrophobic polyelectrolytes have been predicted to adopt a
unique pearl-necklace conformation in aqueous solvents. We present
in this letter an attempt to characterise quantitatively this
conformation with a focus on , the pearl size. For
this purpose polystyrenesulfonate (PSS) of various effective
charge fractions
and chain lengths N has been
adsorbed onto oppositely charged surfaces immersed in water in
condition where the bulk structure is expected to persist in the
adsorbed state. In situ ellipsometry has provided an
apparent thickness
of the PSS layer. In the
presence of added salts, we have found
(a is the monomer size) in agreement
with the scaling predictions for
in the
pearl-necklace model if one interprets
as a
measure of the pearl size. At the lowest charge fractions we have
found
for the shorter chains, in
agreement with a necklace/globule transition.
PACS: 82.35.Rs – Polyelectrolytes / 81.07.Nb – Molecular nanostructures / 68.47.Mn – Polymer surfaces
© EDP Sciences, 2003
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