Formation of Strong Polycation (Poly[(3-allylamino-2-hydroxypropyl)trimethylammoniumchloride]) Monolayers on Mica, Silica, and Gold Substrates: Modelingand Experimental Studies

Formation of poly[(3-allylamino-2-hydroxypropyl)trimethylammonium chloride (PAH-GTMAC, a strong polycation) monolayers on various substrates was thoroughly studied. Molecular dynamics simulations and experimental techniques (dynamic light scattering, electrophoresis, streaming potential measurements, and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D)) were applied in order to characterize the systems. The density, the cross-section area, the end-to-end length, the diffusion coefficient, the number of uncompensated charges of the PAH-GTMAC molecules were theoretically evaluated. The results confirmed that the macrocation adsorption is mainly driven by electrostatic interactions. The QCM-D measurements allowed to determine the PAH-GTMAC adsorption kinetics on these substrates interpreted in terms of the hybrid random sequential adsorption (RSA) model. The dynamic hydration of the PAH-GTMAC monolayer on various substrates was evaluated for the first time. Besides significance to basic science, the results of our studie...