Abstract
We demonstrated an optical tweezers method to measure the electrostatic interaction between the strong polyelectrolyte brushes, poly(2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyltrimethylammonium chloride) (PMTAC), grafted on silica particles in aqueous media. The weak electrostatic interaction was successfully detected with a resolution of less than 0.1 μN m-1. The apparent Debye length, including the charge distribution in the polymer brush and the surface potential, decreased as the salt concentration in the medium increased. The experimentally obtained surface charge density was much smaller than that estimated from the amount of polyelectrolyte on the surface. Furthermore, the dissociation of ionic groups was enhanced by decreasing the grafting density of the polyelectrolyte brush. The results suggest that the majority of chloride counterions was immobilized in the dense polyelectrolyte brush layer to neutralize the high charge density.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 16093-16097 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Langmuir |
Volume | 29 |
Issue number | 52 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 31 2013 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Materials Science(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Surfaces and Interfaces
- Spectroscopy
- Electrochemistry