Electrostatic stretching of grafted maleic acid copolymer chains

Abstract

Abstract. We report on the swelling behaviour of thin maleic acid copolymer films in dependence of pH and ionic strength. The response of the polymer films was studied by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring. It was found that solution's pH and ionic strength can be separately used to adjust the swelling of the maleic acid copolymer films. While the pH affects the degree of dissociation of the maleic acid groups, ionic strength triggers the interaction of the resulting charges along the polymer chains. The dominance of electrostatic interactions in the system was obvious from the maximal extension of the grafted polymer chains at very low ionic strength. Tuning the expansion of grafted polymer chains by pH and ionic strength can be utilized in various applications of biointerfacial research to adjust the physicochemical properties of polymer thin film coatings.

Tuneable swelling of thermo- and pH-responsive copolymer films

“…The mass increase can be attributed to the incorporation of water into the swollen film. 34,40 The swelling of the polymer film concomitantly led to a softer film characteristic with a higher viscous contribution as it becomes obvious from the increasing dissipation signal.…”

“…The swelling behaviour of the resulting copolymer films was characterised in detail using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). This analytical technique is highly sensitive for dynamic changes of mass and layer thickness 34 and allows for the in situ variation of temperature and the continuous exchange of aqueous solution. 35 Using this method we studied the functionality of the immobilised SRP films and we could clarify the phase transition behaviour of the grafted copolymers layers.…”

Kinetic Features of Metal Complexes with Polysaccharide Colloids: Impact of Ionic Strength

“…9 It has been shown that variation of the electrolyte concentration in the bulk medium can lead to non-negligible changes in the electrohydrodynamic properties of soft matters, for example, the electrostatic potential and the binding site distribution through swelling or shrinking process. [10][11][12] In light of this experimental evidence, the theory developed by Duval et al for soft colloids has been recently extended to investigate the influence of ionic strength on the lability criterion and complex stability constant. 13 Nevertheless, to our knowledge, there are no experimental reports that deal with the influence of ionic strength on the electrostatics and dynamic features of metal complex formation with soft colloids.…”