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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Assembly and Characterization of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Published on: March 2, 2020
Flexible polyelectrolyte conformation in the presence of oppositely charged surfactants
1Departamento de Física, Instituto de Física e Matemática, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Caixa Postal 354, CEP 96010-900, Pelotas, RS, Brazil.
Abstract:
Conformational behavior of flexible polyelectrolytes in the presence of monovalent cationic surfactants is examined. A simple model is presented for the formation of polyelectrolyte-surfactant complexes in salt-free solutions in the framework of the Debye-Hückel-Bjerrum-Manning and Flory theories, including explicitly the hydrophobic interactions between the associated surfactant molecules on the polyelectrolyte. The distribution of complexes is calculated as a function of the surfactant concentration and a discrete conformational transition between an elongated coil and a compact globule was found, in agreement with experimental observations.
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