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Title: Surfactant mediated polyelectrolyte self-assembly

Journal Article · · Macromolecules
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)

Self-assembly and dynamics of polyelectrolyte (PE) surfactant complex (PES) is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. The complexation is systematically studied for five different PE backbone charge densities. At a fixed surfactant concentration the PES complexation exhibits pearl-necklace to agglomerated double spherical structures with a PE chain decorating the surfactant micelles. The counterions do not condense on the complex, but are released in the medium with a random distribution. The relaxation dynamics for three different length scales, polymer chain, segmental and monomer, show distinct features of the charge and neutral species; the counterions are fastest followed by the PE chain and surfactants. The surfactant heads and tails have the slowest relaxation due to their restricted movement inside the agglomerated structure. At the shortest length scale, all the charge and neutral species show similar relaxation dynamics confirming Rouse behavior at monomer length scales. Overall, the present study highlights the structure-property relationship for polymer-surfactant complexation. These results will help improve the understanding of PES complex and should aid in the design of better materials for future applications.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Spallation Neutron Source (SNS); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Joint Institute for Computational Sciences (JICS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1286931
Journal Information:
Macromolecules, Vol. 48, Issue 24; ISSN 0024-9297
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 40 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

Computer study of the solubilization of polymer chains in polyelectrolyte complex cores of polymeric nanoparticles in aqueous media journal January 2018
Hydrophobic ion pairing: encapsulating small molecules, peptides, and proteins into nanocarriers journal January 2019
Influence of p H on the formation of a polyelectrolyte complex by dissipative particle dynamics simulation: From an extended to a compact shape journal July 2019
Intermolecular Interactions in Polyelectrolyte and Surfactant Complexes in Solution journal December 2018
Morphological control of self-assembled multivalent (SAMul) heparin binding in highly competitive media journal January 2017
Amending the Structure of Renewable Carbon from Biorefinery Waste-Streams for Energy Storage Applications journal May 2018
The biphasic effect of ABA triblock copolymers on the self-assembly of surfactants: insight from dissipative particle dynamics journal January 2019

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