Ion-Pairing Strength in Polyelectrolyte Complexes

Polyelectrolyte complexes, PECs, are spontaneously formed blends of polyelectrolytes bearing positive, Pol+, and negative, Pol–, repeat units. Many interesting PEC morphologies have been observed, ranging from dense precipitates to liquidlike coacervates to quasi-stable nanoparticles, depending on the identity of the polymers and the preparation conditions. While the number of polyelectrolytes available to synthesize these materials is large and...