Structure of polyelectrolyte chains confined in nanoporous glass

We have investigated the structure of sodium poly(styrenesulfonate) in a bu lk solution and when confined within the pores of the model nanoporous medi um, Vycor. We have used the zero average contrast condition and SANS to sep arate the intramolecular (form factor), P(q), and intermolecular contributi ons, Q(q), to the total scattering. We find that the chains are more stretc hed in confined geometry than the bulk and sufficiently so as to highlight the large-scale disordered structure of Vycor. We show experimentally and p rove theoretically that the asymptotic behavior of the observed interchain structure factor, Q(q), is approximate to 1/q(2) for free and approximate t o 1/q for confined chains.