Surface Morphologies and Dynamic Properties of Polyelectrolyte Brushes Induced by Charge Fraction and Cationic Size

Hong-Yan Zhang; Qing-Hai Hao; Ming-Lu Chao; Hong-Ge Tan

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3776-5

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Surface Morphologies and Dynamic Properties of Polyelectrolyte Brushes Induced by Charge Fraction and Cationic Size

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-09-20

- Surface Morphologies and Dynamic Properties of Polyelectrolyte Brushes Induced by Charge Fraction and Cationic Size
- Surface Morphologies and Dynamic Properties of Polyelectrolyte Brushes Induced by Charge Fraction and Cationic Size
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science 2026年44卷页码：1-15
- Affiliations：
  
  College of Science, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin 300300, China
- Author bio：
  
  qhhao@cauc.edu.cn (Q.H.H.)
  hgtan@cauc.edu.cn (H.G.T.)
- Funds：
  
  This work was financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities (No. 3122020080) and the Graduate Research Project of Civil Aviation University of China (No. 2024YJSKC06005).;The authors declare no interest conflict.The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3776-5
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2026-05-08，
  
  修回：2026-06-04，
  
  录用：2026-06-09，
  
  网络首发：2026-09-20，
  
  纸质出版：2026-07
- Accepted：
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Zhang, H. Y.; Hao, Q. H.; Chao, M. L.; Tan, H. G. Surface morphologies and dynamic properties of polyelectrolyte brushes induced by charge fraction and cationic size. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3776-5

Hong-Yan Zhang, Qing-Hai Hao, Ming-Lu Chao, et al. Surface Morphologies and Dynamic Properties of Polyelectrolyte Brushes Induced by Charge Fraction and Cationic Size[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-15.
Zhang, H. Y.; Hao, Q. H.; Chao, M. L.; Tan, H. G. Surface morphologies and dynamic properties of polyelectrolyte brushes induced by charge fraction and cationic size. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3776-5 DOI：

Hong-Yan Zhang, Qing-Hai Hao, Ming-Lu Chao, et al. Surface Morphologies and Dynamic Properties of Polyelectrolyte Brushes Induced by Charge Fraction and Cationic Size[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-15. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3776-5.

摘要

Abstract

Understanding how the charge sequence along polyelectrolyte (PE) chains and the size of multivalent salt ions cooperatively regulates the behavior of polymer brushes is essential for the rational design of smart surfaces; however

a systematic mechanistic picture of their interplay remains elusive. In this study

we employed molecular dynamics simulations to systematically investigate the roles of the chain charge fraction and trivalent ion size in controlling the structural and dynamic properties of PE brushes. A series of intriguing brush-phase structures emerge from the interplay of these two parameters. Depending on the ion size range

the brush height exhibited three distinct responses to variations in charge fraction. Within different charge-fraction regimes

the brush height displays two contrasting responses to changes in ion size

namely monotonic and non-monotonic behavior. In the multi-chain regime

the structure factor increases monotonically with the charge fraction

whereas it shows a nonmonotonic dependence on the salt ion size. The block effect induced by the chain charge fraction and size effect of multivalent ions jointly give rise to a pronounced diversity in single-chain conformations. Furthermore

the diffusion coefficient revealed two distinct types of responses to the salt ion size

depending on the range of the charge fraction. These findings demonstrate that the synergistic interplay between the charge fraction and the trivalent cation size offers a versatile and powerful strategy for tailoring the equilibrium structures and chain dynamics of PE brushes

thereby providing valuable design guidelines for advanced responsive coatings.

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references

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