Poly(methacrylic acid)-bound dihydroxybenzene units: Redox polymers

Motion of Molecular Probes and Viscosity Scaling in Polyelectrolyte Solutions at Physiological Ionic Strength

We investigate transport properties of model polyelectrolyte systems at physiological ionic strength (0.154 M). Covering a broad range of flow length scales-from diffusion of molecular probes to macroscopic viscous flow-we establish a single, continuous function describing the scale dependent viscosity of high-salt polyelectrolyte solutions. The data are consistent with the model developed previously for electrically neutral polymers in a good solvent. The presented approach merges the power-law scaling concepts of de Gennes with the idea of exponential length scale dependence of effective viscosity in complex liquids. The result is a simple and applicable description of transport properties of high-salt polyelectrolyte solutions at all length scales, valid for motion of single molecules as well as macroscopic flow of the complex liquid.