Structure of Polyelectrolyte Brushes in the Presence of Multivalent Counterions

Polyelectrolyte brushes are of great importance to a wide range of fields, ranging from colloidal stabilization to responsive and tunable materials to lubrication. We synthesized high-density polystyrenesulfonate (PSS) brushes using surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization and performed neutron reflectivity (NR) and surface force measurements using a surface forces apparatus (SFA) to investigate the effect of monovalent Na+, divalent Ca2+, Mg2+, and Ba2+, and trivalent Y3+ counterions on the structure of the PSS brushes. NR and SFA results demonstrate that in monovalent salt solution the behavior of the PSS brushes agrees with scaling theory well, exhibiting two distinct regimes: the osmotic and salted brush regimes. Introducing trivalent Y3+ cations causes an abrupt shrinkage of the PSS brush due to the uptake of Y3+ counterions. The uptake of Y3+ counterions and shrinkage of the brush are reversible upon increasing the concentration of monovalent salt. Divalent cations, Mg2+, Ca2+, and Ba2...