Hydrophobic Polyelectrolytes

We present a scaling model of hydrophobic polyelectrolytes. In dilute salt-free solutions these polymers have a necklacelike shape with compact beads joined by narrow strings. This necklacelike structure manifests itself in the unique scaling laws in semidilute regime for the concentration range where the correlation length ? of a solution is on the order of the string length between two neighboring beads. In this regime the correlation length ? decreases with polymer concentration c as ? ? c-1/3, viscosity is concentration independent, and self-diffusion coefficient D increases with concentration D ? c1/3 in both unentangled and entangled solutions. The effects of added salt on the properties of hydrophobic polyelectrolyte solutions are also discussed.

Duke Scholars

Author Michael Rubinstein Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materia ...