title: Charge regularization in phase separating polyelectrolyte solutions.
abstract: Theoretical investigations of phase separation in polyelectrolyte solutions have so far assumed that the effective charge of the polyelectrolyte chains is fixed. The ability of the polyelectrolyte chains to self-regulate their effective charge due to the self-consistent coupling between ionization equilibrium and polymer conformations, depending on the dielectric constant, temperature, and polymer concentration, affects the critical phenomena and phase transitions drastically. By considering salt-free polyelectrolyte solutions, we show that the daughter phases have different polymer charges from that of the mother phase. The critical point is also altered significantly by the charge self-regularization of the polymer chains. This work extends the progress made so far in the theory of phase separation of strong polyelectrolyte solutions to a higher level of understanding by considering chains which can self-regulate their charge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA. muthu@polysci.umass.edu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muthukumar
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: Arindam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kundagrami
mesh_terms: D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry*; D044367:Phase Transition; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012996:Solutions / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D004573:Electrolytes; D011108:Polymers; D012996:Solutions