Adsorption of Oppositely Charged Polyelectrolytes onto a Charged Rod

TL;DR

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to explore how oppositely charged polyelectrolytes adsorb onto a charged rod, revealing that multilayer formation is hindered by entropy effects related to the substrate's curvature.

Contribution

It provides a detailed structural analysis of polyelectrolyte adsorption on curved charged surfaces, including effects of short-range attraction and entropy constraints.

Findings

Multilayer formation is strongly suppressed on curved substrates.

Short-range attraction influences adsorption but does not promote multilayer buildup.

High entropy penalties prevent multilayer structures on highly curved charged rods.

Abstract

The adsorption of highly charged flexible polycations and polyanions on a charged cylindrical substrate is investigated by means of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. A detailed structural study, including monomer and fluid charge distributions, is provided. The influence of a short range attraction between the polycations and the negatively charged substrate is also considered. We demonstrate that the building up of multilayer structures is highly prohibited mainly due to the high entropy penalty stemming from the low dimensionality of the substrate at strong curvature.