Correction to Dissipative Particle Dynamics Study of Electrostatic Self-Assembly in Aqueous Mixtures of Copolymers Containing One Neutral Water-Soluble Block and One Either Positively or Negatively Charged Polyelectrolyte Block

Abstract

The paper describes the general features and trends of the electrostatic assembly (EA) of block polyelectrolytes. We performed computer simulations of the associative behavior of aqueous mixtures of diblock copolymers containing one neutral water-soluble block and one either positively or negatively charged polyelectolyte (PE) block. While the neutral block is readily soluble in water, the hydrophilic vs hydrophobic nature of the neutral backbone of the PE block and the compatibility of the blocks vary in a broad range. We investigated the role of (i) electrostatics, (ii) solvophobicity of the PE block, (iii) compatibility of the polymer blocks, and also (iv) compatibility of small ions with the polymer blocks. We employed the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method and used the generally recognized formula (J. Chem. Phys. 1997, 107, 4423) for recalculating the Flory–Huggins interaction parameters in DPD parameters of soft coarse-grained repulsion forces. The Coulomb interactions are described by the r...