Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Assembly and Characterization of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Published on: March 2, 2020
Complexation of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes: effect of discrete charge distribution along the chain
Igor I Potemkin1, Vladimir V Palyulin
1Department of Physics, Moscow State University, Moscow 119992, Russian Federation. igor@polly.phys.msu.ru
Abstract:
Similar to the Debye-Hückel plasma, charged groups of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes attract each other. We find exact expression for the correlation free energy of electrostatic attraction in polyelectrolytes within the random phase approximation. The obtained expression is shown to be valid in dilute, semidilute, concentrated solutions, and melts. In this theory we explicitly take into account positions of charged groups on the chains and examine both charge and polymer concentrations fluctuations. The existence of the critical point in theta solvent is demonstrated. The theory reproduces scaling results and describes the system beyond the scaling approximation.
Related Concept Videos
Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect
Ionic Association
Potential Due to a Polarized Object
Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism
Molecular Shape and Polarity
Theory of Strong Electrolytes

