The Department of Materials Science and Engineering welcomed Matthew Tirrell from the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory to the MSE Seminar Series. Tirrell presented a seminar titled “Polyelectrolytes in Multi-valent Ionic Media: New Physics and New Materials.” Below is the abstract:
Multi-valent interactions in systems of polyelectrolytes can exhibit dramatic, non-monotonic effects, for example, switching forces from repulsive to attractive, and back to repulsive again, in some cases. We have been studying these patterns of behavior with the surface forces apparatus (SFA) and with electrochemical methods, such as cyclic voltametry, which enables the quantitative determination of the number of multi-valent ions residing in thin layers of charged polymers. At fixed ionic strength, all-cause strong shrinkage and condensation of poly(styrene sulfonate) brush over a narrow range of ratio multi-valent to monovalent ions. When the multi-valent ion is an oppositely charged polymer, new fluid phases can form. Charged blocks in copolymers lead to materials with new types of ordered phases. Effects of these multi-valent interactions on supermolecular and biomolecular assembly will be discussed. There are many possibilities for the creation of new materials based on electrostatic assembly involving multi-valent interactions.