Light scattering studies on polyelectrolyte complexes

Abstract

The Coulomb interaction between oppositely charged polyelectrolytes leads to spontaneous formation of interpolymer complexes. Such complexes are of high practical relevance, but also interesting objects of fundamental research. The level of aggregation depends on the nature of the components as well as on the medium and external conditions of the polyelectrolyte complex formation. An appropriate combination of methods provides detailed information on the stoichiometry and structure of such systems. Especially, light scattering techniques proved to be a powerful tool in studying the structure and behavior of the complexes in solution. Selected examples will demonstrate the efficiency of such investigations.