We tested the hypothesis that the level of protein adsorption onto polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) is influenced by the chain stiffness of the polymers forming the multilayer. The implication being that by altering the chain stiffness, PEMs can be formed that promote or inhibit protein adsorption. Protein adsorption to PEMs consisting of flexible and semi-flexible polyelectrolytes was invest...

Polyelectrolyte surface-modified cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) can be used for the templated synthesis of narrowly dispersed gold nanoparticles. Cationic polyelectrolyte, poly(allylamine) hydrochloride, is electrostatically bound to the external surface of the virus capsid. The polyelectrolyte-coated CPMV promotes adsorption of aqueous gold hydroxide anionic species, prepared from gold(III) chlori...

We study the effect of electrostatic interactions on the distribution function of the end-to-end distance of a single polyelectrolyte chain in the rod-like limit. The extent to which the radial distribution function of a polyelectrolyte is reproduced by that of a wormlike chain with an adjusted effective persistence length is investigated. Strong evidence is found for a universal scaling formul...

Quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS), electrophoretic light scattering (ELS), CD spectroscopy, and azide binding titrations were used to study the complexation at pH 6.8 between ferrihemoglobin and three polyelectrolytes that varied in charge density and sign. Both QELS and ELS show that the structure of the soluble complex formed between ferrihemoglobin and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chlori...

Xylan is known as a strength-enhancing agent for paper. However, it is difficult to adsorb xylan onto cellulose fibers because it carries the same negative charge as fibers. Therefore, either cationization of xylan or addition of cationic polyelectrolyte is required to maximize the effect of xylan use. In this study, cationic polyelectrolyte was used to promote xylan adsorption onto cellulose f...

Inhalation delivery of aerosolized antibacterials is preferred over conventional methods of delivery for targeting lung infection. The present study is concerned with the development and characterization of a novel, spray dried, aerosolized, chitosan polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) based microparticles containing antibacterials for the treatment of lung infections.Chitosan polyelectrolyte complex...

Inhalation delivery of aerosolized antibacterials is preferred over conventional methods of delivery for targeting lung infection. The present study is concerned with the development and characterization of a novel, spray dried, aerosolized, chitosan polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) based microparticles containing antibacterials for the treatment of lung infections.Chitosan polyelectrolyte complex...

Adsorbed layers of polyelectrolytes have been studied with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the interferometric surface force apparatus (SFA). Particular emphasis was put on determining the effect of the polyelectrolyte charge density on surface topography, and the effect of the polyelectrolyte coating on the adhesive properties. The AFM was employed to image individual polymer chains at low a...

Polystyrene-poly(acrylic acid)/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) polyelectrolyte multilayer was found to be instable and apt to reconstruct in the pure water. By depositing polystyrene-poly(acrylic acid)/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) multilayer on the polystyrene-poly(acrylic acid) hybrid CaCO(3) templates, novel polyelectrolyte capsules could be prepared after the removal of the templates. The r...

Polyelectrolytes are polymers carrying either positively or negatively charged ionizable groups. The properties of these polymers in solutions and at charged surfaces depend on the fraction of dissociated ionic groups, solvent quality for polymer backbone, solution dielectric constant, salt concentration, and polymer–substrate interactions. In this review, we summarize the current development o...