Polyelectrolyte complexes Preparation, characterization, and use for control of wet and dry adhesion between surfaces

Abstract: This thesis examines polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) preparation, adsorption behaviour, and potential use for control of wet and dry adhesion between surfaces.PEC formation was studied using a jet-mixing method not previously used for mixing polyelectrolytes. The PECs were formed using various mixing times, and the results were compared with those for PECs formed using the conventional polyelectrolyte titration method. The results indicated that using the jet mixer allowed the size of the formed PECs to be controlled, which was not the case with the polyelectrolyte titration method, and a two-step mechanism for PEC formation was suggested.Adsorption experiments comparing two types of PECs, both produced from PAA and PAH, but with different molecular weights, demonstrated that surface-induced aggregation occurred in the high-molecular-weight PECs, whereas the adsorption stopped at a low level in the low-molecular-weight PECs. It was suggested that the latter PECs consisted of two fractions of complexes and that the fraction with lower polymer density exerted a site-blocking effect, hindering further adsorption.It was also demonstrated that particle-PECs (PPECs), in which one polyion was replaced with a silica nanoparticle, could be prepared. The purpose of preparing PPECs was to create a PEC structure that could create a joint with a special failure pattern referred to as disentanglement behaviour. Using the colloidal probe AFM technique, the expected disentanglement could be detected in PPECs, though the joint strength was low. Adhesion experiments demonstrated significantly higher pull-off values with polymer–polymer complexes than with PPECs. However, there was large spread in the data, possibly due to the surface inhomogeneity.Experiments using low-molecular-weight PECs as a paper strength agent demonstrated that PECs can indeed increase paper strength. Comparing the PEC results with those for polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) prepared from the same polyelectrolytes indicated that, since the PEM strategy enables higher adsorption levels than does the PEC strategy, greater absolute strength improvements could be achieved using PEMs. However, PEC treatment resulted in the greatest effect per adsorbed amount of polymer.