This perspective summarizes the synthesis methods of poly(polyoxometalate)s as a kind of new charged polymers/polyelectrolytes, as well as their properties and functions, while also focusing on their advanced application areas.

Based on the pH-controlled counterion-mediated hydrogen bond interactions, the pH responsiveness of strong polyelectrolytes is expected to be observed in different polyelectrolyte systems including solutions, brushes, and gels.

The methods and strategies of analyzing dielectric spectra for typical polyelectrolyte solutions in the RF range are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on gaining insight into internal information about the studying system, including chain conformation, counter-ion distribution, phase transition, and the micro-structure of microgels and polymer networks.

Polymer density-function theories (PDFTs) have distinct advantages in the study of polyelectrolyte systems. Here we give an introductory review of some PDFTs recently developed for polyelectrolyte systems, hoping that it can attract more researchers to apply and further develop PDFTs as a promising class of theoretical and computational tools.

This work demonstrated the importance of simultaneously taking the image charge effect and ion solvation beyond point-charge model into consideration when modeling the surface polarization effect.

We study the self-assembly of oppositely charged diblock copolymer and homopolymer based on ion-pair model. By use of self-consistent field theory, we investigate the influence of homopolymer content on the self-assembled structures systematically and calculate the phase diagrams under different conditions.

Electrostatic interaction determines the growth and size of the peptide/ss-oligo coacervates by controlling the strength of complexation and the degree of chain relaxation. The hydrophobic interaction is prominent when the charges are neutralized. The secondary structures of peptides exhibit an effect even stronger than that of the electrostatic interaction.

We utilize molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the microstructures of ions and polyelectrolytes in aqueous solutions under external electric fields. Our simulations illustrate structural variations in ionic solutions caused by reversing the charge sign of ions, and elucidate differences in structures between anionic and cationic polyelectrolytes under external electric fields.

Understanding how supercoiled DNA releases intramolecular stress is essential for its functional realization. We employed MD simulations based on the oxDNA2 model to investigate the dynamics of supercoiled minicircular DNA under double-strand breaks with two fixed endpoints, uncovering the molecular mechanism underlying the relaxation process.

The relationship between microscopic structures and macroscopic viscoelastic properties of polyampholyte gels was studied and found that the dynamical association-dissociation of the ionic bonds, occurring only at intermediate ionic strength, can induce the solid-liquid transition at low frequency and self-healing properties in the yielding measurements.

A maximum of friction coefficients is observed for polyelectrolyte brushes, which is in contrast to the neutral brushes with monotonical dependence.

Investigating the phase separation of salt-doped diblock copolymers, this study reveals the significant role of charged species in modulating phase behavior. Across various wave numbers, the phase separation exhibits a transition between the polymer-modulated and salt-out-modulated modes. These findings provide substantial guidance for precise nanostructure fabrication.

We develop a new theory to understand the swelling behavior of spherical polyelectrolyte gels with added salt. Our model reveals two scaling regimes for the swelling ratio, which agrees with experiments. We anticipate that this work will shed light on multiple applications of polyelectrolyte gels in biomedicine and advanced manufacturing.

This paper reports the approach to preparing hollow titanium dioxide nanospheres by utilization of spherical polyelectrolyte brushes as nanoreactors and templates via a two-step hydrolysis-calcination process. The evolution of the structure was clearly characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering, highlighting the crucial effect of polyelectrolyte chains in the deposition. Produced hollow TiO2 nanospheres showed exceptional photocatalytic performance.