Issue 2, 2009
From the journal:

Soft Matter

Manipulating cylindrical polyelectrolyte brushes on the nanoscale by counterions: collapse transition to helical structures

Youyong Xu,a   Sreenath Bolisetty,b   Markus Drechsler,a   Bing Fang,a   Jiayin Yuan,a   Ludger Harnau,cd   Matthias Ballauff*b  and  Axel H. E. Müller*a  

* Corresponding authors

a Makromolekulare Chemie II and Bayreuther Zentrum für Kolloide und Grenzflächen, Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
E-mail: axel.mueller@uni-bayreuth.de

b Physikalische Chemie I.and Bayreuther Zentrum für Kolloide und Grenzflächen, Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
E-mail: matthias.ballauff@uni-bayreuth.de

c Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstraße 3, Stuttgart, Germany

d Institut für Theoretische und Angewandte Physik, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, Stuttgart, Germany

Abstract

We present a study of the spatial structure of cationic cylindrical polymer brushes in the presence of counterions of different valencies. Dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cryogenic transmission electron microscope (cryo-TEM) studies demonstrate that the brushes undergo a transition from an extended to a collapsed state when the ionic strength is raised. In the presence of a di- or trivalent salt this collapse passes through an intermediate state in which the cylindrical polymer brushes assume a helical conformation. The helical pitch (25 nm) is in the range expected from theoretical considerations. Moreover, we demonstrate that the collapse can be reversed by a photochemical cleavage of the complex trivalent counterion into one monovalent and one divalent ion (photoaquation). All data demonstrate that the spatial structure of cylindrical polymer brushes can be manipulated on the nanoscale in a defined fashion.

Graphical abstract: Manipulating cylindrical polyelectrolyte brushes on the nanoscale by counterions: collapse transition to helical structures

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/B812179F
Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 Jul 2008
Accepted
11 Sep 2008
First published
24 Oct 2008

Soft Matter, 2009,5, 379-384

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Manipulating cylindrical polyelectrolyte brushes on the nanoscale by counterions: collapse transition to helical structures

Y. Xu, S. Bolisetty, M. Drechsler, B. Fang, J. Yuan, L. Harnau, M. Ballauff and A. H. E. Müller, Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 379 DOI: 10.1039/B812179F

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