Effects of Added Electrolytes on the Structure of Charged Polymeric Micelles

S. Mochizuki, S. Komura, T. Kato
2005 Soft Materials  
A We investigate the effects of added electrolytes on the structure of spherical aggregates made of neutral/charged diblock copolymers with weakly acidic groups on the charged block. Using a simple model based on the theory of annealed polyelectrolyte brushes, we study the added-electrolyte effects that differ according to the magnitude of the ionic strength and the acid concentration. They are presented by the regime diagrams as a function of the ionic strength and the acid concentration.
more » ... ding on the neutral/charged relative block length, six different types of regime diagrams are obtained. We also discuss the poor solvent case where the backbone of the charged block is highly hydrophobic. As a result of the competition between the osmotic repulsion and the hydrophobic attraction, the addition of salt induces a reentrant change of the structural parameters.
doi:10.1080/15394450600801228 fatcat:pbupfvkfbnbfzms3m2v6gpa3py