Electrostatic Free Energy of Weakly Charged Macromolecules in Solution and Intermacromolecular Complexes Consisting of Oppositely Charged Polymers

When oppositely charged polyelectrolytes are mixed in water, attraction between oppositely charged groups may lead to the formation of polyelectrolyte complexes (associative phase separation, complex coacervation, interpolymer complexes). Theory is presented to describe the electrostatic free energy change when ionizable (annealed) (macro-)molecules form a macroscopic polyelectrolyte complex. The electrostatic free energy includes an electric...