Eur. Phys. J. E (2005) 16: 353-359
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2004-10085-1

Volume exclusion effects in the ground-state dominance approximation for polyelectrolyte adsorption on charged interfaces

Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Colloid Science, Wageningen University, Dreijenplein 6, 6703 HB, Wageningen, The Netherlands

^* e-mail: maarten.biesheuvel@wur.nl

Received: 2 December 2004
Accepted: 2 January 2005
Published online: 3 March 2005

Abstract

We consider the problem of polyelectrolyte molecules adsorbing on oppositely charged interfaces. For sufficiently long chains, the ground-state dominance approximation can be used which results in a (semi-)analytical solution of the self-consistent field equations (aSCF). Whereas existing aSCF theory assumes a low polyelectrolyte density, here the required electrostatic corrections for a high polymer density are implemented. Adsorbed polymer excludes volume for the solvent and small ions, a volume effect that also leads to a reduced dielectric permittivity and a resulting polarization term in the exchange potential. Calculations show the influence of volume exclusion on the polymer density profile.