Polyelectrolyte Multilayering on a Charged Sphere

Messina, Rene; Holm, Christian; Kremer, Kurt

Polyelectrolyte Multilayering on a Charged Sphere

Authors

Messina, Rene

Holm, Christian

Kremer, Kurt

Description

The adsorption of highly \textit{oppositely} charged flexible polyelectrolytes onto a charged spherical surface is investigated by means of Monte Carlo simulations in a fashion which resembles the layer-by-layer deposition technique introduced by Decher. Electroneutrality is insured at each step by the presence of monovalent counterions (anions and cations). We study in detail the structure of the \textit{equilibrium} complex. Our investigations of the first few layer formations strongly suggest that multilayering in spherical geometry is not possible as an equilibrium process with purely electrostatic interactions. We especially focus on the influence of specific (non-electrostatic) short range attractive interactions (e.g., Van der Waals) on the stability of the multilayers.
24 Pages - 15 (main) Figs - RevTeX 4 - published version