Electric field driven motion of single polyelectrolyte grafted colloids

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In the previous application period we have developed novel measurement systems which enable one – for the first time - to determine the electrophoretic mobility of single colloids in media of varying ionic strength and valency (Single-Colloid Electrophoresis (SCE)). It is the goal of the current proposal to extend this methodology to single polyelectrolyte–grafted colloids. This should allow us to unravel in detail the interaction between a grafted polymer with an external electric field under well controlled conditions (molecular weight of the polymers, grafting density, concentration and valency of the ions in the surrounding medium). As polymeric systems DNA, poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(2- vinylpyridine) (P2VP) are selected because with these systems our group has a refined expertise concerning the interacting between polymer-brushes. It is evident that this approach has the potential to lead to completely new measurement systems for the characterization of single, isolated (polymergrafted) colloids.