Research

Self-assembly of interpolyelectrolyte complexes and their interaction with lipid membranes

 Electrostatic interactions are instrumental in determining the structure and function of living organisms, biopolymers and drug delivery systems. Charged macromolecules can self-assemble and aggregate into compact intermolecular complexes.
This ability of oppositely charged polymers to form finite size complexes determines their biological function, which for example is important in gene transfection and compactization of DNA, that provide promising alternatives to viral vectors. […]

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Self-assembly of spherical interpolyelectrolyte complexes from oppositely charged polymers

V. A. Baulin and E. Trizac
Soft Matter, 8 (25), 6755 – 6766 (2012)
The formation of inter-polyelectrolyte complexes from the association of oppositely charged polymers in an electrolyte is studied. The charged polymers are linear oppositely charged polyelectrolytes, with possibly a neutral block. This leads to complexes with a charged core, and a more dilute corona […]

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