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Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes
Published on: December 24, 2014
Effect of dielectric discontinuity on a spherical polyelectrolyte brush
Vinicius B Tergolina1, Alexandre P Dos Santos1
1Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Caixa Postal 15051, CEP 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Abstract:
In this paper we perform molecular dynamics simulations of a spherical polyelectrolyte brush and counterions in a salt-free medium. The dielectric discontinuity on the grafted nanoparticle surface is taken into account by the method of image charges. Properties of the polyelectrolyte brush are obtained for different parameters, including valency of the counterions, radius of the nanoparticle, and the brush total charge. The monovalent counterions density profiles are obtained and compared with a simple mean-field theoretical approach. The theory allows us to obtain osmotic properties of the system.
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