Issue 5, 2021

Decoupling salt- and polymer-dependent dynamics in polyelectrolyte complex coacervates via salt addition

Abstract

In polyelectrolyte complex coacervates, changes in salt concentration and changes in polymer concentration are typically strongly coupled, complicating interpretation of the salt- and polymer-concentration-dependent dynamics of these materials. To address this problem, we developed a “salt addition” method for preparation of complex coacervates that allows the salt concentration of a coacervate sample to be varied without changing its polymer concentration. This method was used to prepare coacervates of poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) with salt concentrations between 1.2 and 2 M and volume fractions of polymer between 0.1 and 0.25. Characterization of these samples by small-amplitude oscillatory shear rheology revealed that the relaxation times scale significantly more strongly with polymer volume fraction than has been previously assumed, highlighting the need to account for both salt and polymer-dependent contributions to the dynamics of these complex materials.

Graphical abstract: Decoupling salt- and polymer-dependent dynamics in polyelectrolyte complex coacervates via salt addition

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 авг 2020
Accepted
04 дек 2020
First published
08 дек 2020

Soft Matter, 2021,17, 1223-1231

Decoupling salt- and polymer-dependent dynamics in polyelectrolyte complex coacervates via salt addition

F. J. Morin, M. L. Puppo and J. E. Laaser, Soft Matter, 2021, 17, 1223 DOI: 10.1039/D0SM01412E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements