Polyelectrolyte/surfactant (P/S) mixtures adopt a variety of structures at static air/liquid interfaces, ranging from monolayers, through trilayers to multilayers. These systems have been previously classified into two sorts: type 1 involving strong complex adsorption and thick layers and type 2 forming thin layers while exhibiting a surface tension peak. Recently, we have shown that the lack of the colloid stability of the P/S particles present in the bulk phase of a type 2 system (pdadmac/SDS) has a profound effect on the interfacial properties and leads to the development of the surface tension peak due to the depletion of the bulk phase in surface active materials. We have also shown that this system can exhibit the type 1 characteristic and interfacial multilayers when appropriately treated. In this work we extend our investigations to a typical type 1 system (NaPSS/DTAB) and show that through tuning the bulk phase behavior it can exhibit the type 2 characteristic of a surface tension peak. We also demonstrate the effect of salt (ionic strength and salt quality: NaCl vs. NaBr) on the interfacial properties of NaPSS/DTAB system. Based on the newly available experimental data a new generalized model to describe P/S systems at fluid interfaces with respect to their bulk phase behavior will be presented and applied for biomacromolecule / surfactant systems.

New approach to predict the surface properties of strongly-interacting synthetic and bio-polyelectrolyte/surfactant mixtures

246th National Meeting (2013)

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