The Effect of Salt Cation Charge on Cationic Polyelectrolyte Adsorption by a Negatively Charged Surface

Abstract

Capillary electrokinetics has been employed to study the effect of salt cation charge on cationic polyelectrolyte adsorption by the negatively charged surface of fused quartz. It has been found that polyelectrolyte adsorption values decrease with a rise in the cation charge and increase with salt concentration. Salt cation charge influences the conformation of polyelectrolyte molecules in an adsorbed layer. High values of the charge reversal suggest a significant entropy contribution to the adsorption mechanism.