Stability and Adsorption Properties of Electrostatic Complexes : Design of Hybrid Nanostructures for Coating Applications

TL;DR

This study investigates the stability and adsorption characteristics of electrostatic complexes, highlighting how hybrid nanostructures formed from cationic-neutral diblocks and charged particles exhibit enhanced stability for coating applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel correlation between bulk and interfacial properties of electrostatic coacervate complexes and demonstrates improved stability of hybrid nanoparticle aggregates over surfactant systems.

Findings

Hybrid nanoparticle aggregates are more stable during dilution and rinsing.

Stability differences are due to critical association concentration and structural freezing.

Hybrid structures show potential for durable coating applications.

Abstract

We report the presence of a correlation between the bulk and interfacial properties of electrostatic coacervate complexes. Complexes were obtained by co-assembly between cationic-neutral diblocks and oppositely charged surfactant micelles or 7 nm cerium oxide nanoparticles. Light scattering and reflectometry measurements revealed that the hybrid nanoparticle aggregates were more stable both through dilution and rinsing (from either a polystyrene or a silica surfaces) than their surfactant counterparts. These findings were attributed to a marked difference in critical association concentration between the two systems and to the frozen state of the hybrid structures.