Ionic strength dependence of polyelectrolyte brush thickness

Abstract

Intramolecular repulsion between charged monomers imposes intrinsic tension in a polyion, modifies its elasticity, and changes the dependence of polyelectrolyte brush thickness on salt concentration. We demonstrate that intrinsic polyion tension gives rise to a plateau of brush thickness in the middle of a salt dominated regime and to a subsequent steeper brush contraction with increasing salt concentration.