Thermodynamics of micellization of oppositely charged polymers

Abstract

The complexation of oppositely charged colloidal objects is considered in this paper as a thermodynamic micellization process where each kind of object needs the others to micellize. This requirement gives rise to quantitatively different behaviors than the so-called mixed-micellization where each specie can micellize separately. A simple model of the grand potential for micelles is proposed to corroborate the predictions of this general approach.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in Europhysics Letter