STRUCTURE AND INTERACTION OF WEAKLY CHARGED POLYELECTROLYTE BRUSHES -SELF-CONSISTENT-FIELD THEORY

A self-consistent field analytical theory is developed to analyze the equilibrium structure of weakly charged polyelectrolyte brushes in sal t-free solutions. In contrast to previous studies based on the local e lectroneutrality approximation valid for sufficiently strongly charged or densely grafted (''osmatic'') brushes, we consider a general ease comprising both limits of weakly and strongly charged systems without any a priori assumptions about the distribution of counterions. The an alytical expressions for various structural properties of free and con fined polyelectrolyte brushes are obtained and compared to existing sc aling predictions, The elastic response and structural rearrangement i n the polyelectrolyte brush under compression are analyzed. (C) 1997 A merican Institute of Physics.