Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Polyelectrolyte-surfactant association—from fundamentals to applications

  • Published:
Colloid Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mixed polymer-surfactant systems have broad applications, ranging from detergents, paints, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic to biotechnological. A review of the underlying polymer-surfactant association in bulk is given. While ionic surfactants bind broadly to polymers, nonionics only do so if the polymer has a lower polarity and can interact by hydrophobic interactions. Water-soluble polymers, which have hydrophobic groups, form physical cross-links, hence they may be used as thickeners. The rheological behaviour is strongly influenced by various cosolutes; especially strong effects are due to surfactants and both a decrease and an increase in viscosity can occur. When the polymer-surfactant interactions are particularly strong, an associative phase separation can occur, like in the case where there is electrostatic attraction as well as hydrophobic; this and other types of phase separation phenomena are described. Except for linear ionic and nonionic polymers, the interactions between surfactants and cross-linked polymers, microgel particles and covalent macroscopic gels are analyzed, as well as the possibility of forming gel particles of interest for encapsulation purposes. Furthermore, the behavior of these mixed systems on surfaces is discussed. In particular, we consider the adsorption of mixtures of ionic polymers and oppositely charged surfactants on polar and nonpolar surfaces. Depending on concentration, an ionic surfactant can either induce additional polyion adsorption or induce desorption. Kinetic control of adsorption and, in particular, desorption is typical. Important consequences of this include an increased adsorption on rinsing and path dependent adsorbed layers. Recently, considerable attention has been given to the interaction between DNA and cationic surfactant, both as a means to understand the behaviour of DNA in biological systems and to develop novel formulations, for example for gene therapy. Here we review aspects such as DNA compaction, DNA covalent gels and DNA soft nanoparticles.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Polymer-Surfactant Systems, Kwak J., Ed., New York: Marcel Dekker, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Lindman, B. Surfactant-Polymer Systems, In Handbook of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Vol. 1, Holmberg K., Ed., Chichester: Wiley, 2002, p. 445.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Goddard, E. and Ananthapadmanabhan, K., Interactions of Surfactants with Polymers and Proteins, Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Lindman, B. and Thalberg, K. Polymer-Surfactant Interactions-Recent Developments. In Interactions of Surfactants with Polymers and Proteins, Goddard, E.D. and Ananthapadmanabhan, K.P., Ed., Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1993, p. 203.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Piculell, L. and Lindman, B., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 1992, vol. 41, p. 149.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Hansson, P., Curr. Opin. Colloid Interface Sci. 2006, vol. 11, p. 351.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Rubingh, D. and Holland P.M., Interaction between Polymers and Cationic Surfactants, In Cationic Surfactants: Physical Chemistry, New York: Marcel Dekker, 1991, p. 189.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Hayakawa, K. and Kwak, J.C., J. Phys. Chem. 1982, vol. 86, p. 3866.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Almgren, M., Hansson, P., Mukhtar, E., and van Stam, J., Langmuir, 1992, vol. 8, p. 2405.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kogej, K., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 2010, vol. 158, p. 68.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Langevin, D., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 2009, vol. 147–148, p. 170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Bronich, T.K., Cherry, T., Vinogradov, S.V., Eisenberg, A., Kabanov, V.A., and Kabanov, A.V., Langmuir, 1998, vol. 14, p. 6101.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Nizri, G., Makarsky, A., Magdassi, S., and Talmon, Y., Langmuir, 2009, vol. 25, p. 1980.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Thalberg, K. and Lindman, B., J. Phys. Chem., 1989, vol. 93, p. 1478.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Thalberg, K., Lindman, B., and Karlström, G., J. Phys. Chem., 1990, vol. 94, p. 4289.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Thalberg, K., Lindman, B., and Karlström, G., J. Phys. Chem., 1991, vol. 95, p. 6004.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Thalberg, T., Lindman, B., and Bergfeldt, K., Langmuir, 1991, vol. 7, p. 2893.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hansson, P. and Almgren, M., Langmuir, 1994, vol. 10, p. 2115.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Bergfeldt, K., Piculell, L., and Linse, P., J. Phys. Chem., 1996, vol. 100, p. 3680.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Sitar, S., Goderis, B., Hansson, P., and Kogej, K., J. Phys. Chem. B, 2012, vol. 116, p. 4634.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Kizilay, E., Kayitmazer, A.B., and Dubin, P.L., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 2011, vol. 167, p. 24.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. dos Santos, S., Gustavsson, C., Gudmundsson, C., Linse, P., and Piculell, L., Langmuir, 2011, vol. 27, p. 592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Thalberg, K. and Lindman, B., Colloids Surf., 1993, vol. 76, p. 283.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Svensson, A., Piculell, L., Cabane, B., and Ilekti, P., J. Phys. Chem. B, 2002, vol. 106, p. 1013.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Norrman, J., Lynch, I., and Piculell, L., J. Phys. Chem. B, 2007, vol. 111, p. 8402.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Svensson, A., Sjöström, J., Scheel, T., and Piculell, L., Colloids Surf. A, 2003, vol. 228, p. 91.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Piculell, L., Norrman, J., Svensson, A.V., Lynch, I., Bernandes, J. and Loh, W., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 2009, vol. 147–148, p. 228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Svensson, A., Norrman, J., and Piculell, L., J. Phys. Chem. B, 2006, vol. 110, p. 10332.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Piculell, L., Svensson, A., Norrman, J., Bernardes, J.S., Karlsson, L., and Loh, W., Pure Appl. Chem., 2007, vol. 79, p. 1419.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Ilekti, P., Piculell, L., Tournilhac, F., and Cabane, B., J. Phys. Chem. B, 1998, vol. 102, p. 344.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Piculell, L., Guillemet, F. Thuresson, K., Shubin, V. and Ericsson, O., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 1996, vol. 63, p. 1.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Piculell, L., Thuresson, K., and Lindman, B., Polym. Adv. Technol., 2001, vol. 12, p. 44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Thuresson, K., Nilsson, S., and Lindman, B., Langmuir, 1996, vol. 12, p. 530.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Antunes, F.E., Lindman, B., and Miguel, M.G., Langmuir, 2005, vol. 21, p. 10188.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Lapitsky, Y. and Kaler, E.W., Colloids Surf. A, 2004, vol. 250, p. 179.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Lapitsky, Y., Eskuchen, W.J., and Kaler, E.W. Langmuir, 2006, vol. 22, p. 6375.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Lapitsky, Y. and Kaler, E.W., Colloids Surf. A, 2006, vol. 282–283, p. 118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Lapitsky, Y. and Kaler, E.W., Soft Matter, 2006, vol. 2, p. 779.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Morán, M.C., Miguel, M.G., and Lindman, B., Soft Matter, 2010, vol. 6, p. 3143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. DNA Interactions with Polymers and Surfactants, Dias, R. and Lindman, B., Hoboken, Eds., N.J.: Wiley, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Bilalov, A., Olsson, U., and Lindman, B. Soft Matter, 2012, vol. 8, p. 11022.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Ainalem, M.-L., Bartles, A., Muck, J., Dias, R.S., Carnerup, A.M., Zink, D., and Nylander, T., PLOS ONE, 2014, accepted.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Fant, K., Esbjorner, E.K., Lincoln, P., and Norden, B., Biochemistry, 2008, vol. 47, p. 1732.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Bielinska, A.U., Kukowska-Latallo, J.F., and Baker, J.R., Biochim. Biophys. Acta-Gene Struct. Express, 1997, vol. 1353, p. 180.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Antunes, F.E., Alves, L., Duarte, C., Lindman, B., Klotz, B., Boettcher, A. and Haake, H.-M., J. Disp. Sci. Technol., 2012, vol. 33, p. 1368.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Taylor, D.J.F., Thomas, R.K., and Penfold, J., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 2007, vol. 132, p. 69.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Staples, E., Tucker, I., Penfold, J., Warren, N., and Thomas, R.K., Langmuir, 2002, vol. 18, p. 5147.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Taylor, D.J.F., Thomas, R.K., and Penfold, J., Langmuir, 2002, vol. 18, p. 4748.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Taylor, D.J.F., Thomas, R.K., Hines, J.D., Humphreys, K., and Penfold, J., Langmuir, 2002, vol. 18, p. 9783.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Bell, C.G., Breward, C.J.W., Howell, P.D., Penfold, J., and Thomas, R.K., Langmuir, 2007, vol. 23, p. 6042.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Penfold, J., Tucker, I., Thomas, R.K., Taylor, D.J.F., Zhang, L., Bell, C., Breward, S., and Howell, P., Langmuir, 2007, vol. 23, p. 3128.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Campbell, R.A., Angus-Smyth, A., Arteta, M.Y., Tonigold, K., Nylander, T., and Varga, I., J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2010, vol. 1, p. 3021.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Bahramian, A., Thomas, R.K., and Penfold, J., J. Phys. Chem. B, 2014, vol. 118, p. 2769.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Tonigold, K., Varga, I., Nylander, T., and Campbell, R.A., Langmuir, 2009, vol. 25, p. 4036.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  55. Angus-Smyth, A., Bain, C.D., Varga, I., and Campbell, R.A., Soft Matter, 2013, vol. 23, p. 6103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Campbell, R.A., Arteta, M.Y., Angus-Smyth, A., Nylander, T., and Varga, I., J. Phys. Chem. B, 2011, vol. 115, p. 15202.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. Sharipova, A., Aidarova, S., Cernochc, P., and Miller, R., Colloids Surf. A, 2013, vol. 438, p. 141.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Aidarova, S., Sharipova, A., Krägel, J., and Miller, R., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 2014, vol. 205, p. 87.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Claesson, P.M., Dedinaite, A., Meszaros, R., and Varga, I., Association between polyelectrolytes and oppositely charged surfactants in bulk and at solid/liquid interfaces, Colloids Interface Sci. Ser., 2007, vol. 3, p. 337.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Bain, C.D., Claesson, P.M., Langevin, D., Meszaros, R., Nylander, T., Stubenrauch, C., Titmuss, S., and von Klitzing, R., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 2010, vol. 156, p. 32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Nylander, T., Samoshina, Y., and Lindman, B., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 2006, vol. 123, p. 105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Terada, E., Samoshina, Y., Nylander, T., and Lindman, B., Langmuir, 2004, vol. 20, p. 1753.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  63. Samoshina, Y., Nylander, T., and Lindman, B., Langmuir, 2005, vol. 21, p. 4490.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  64. Terada, E., Samoshina, Y., Nylander, T., and Lindman, B., Langmuir, 2004, vol. 20, p. 6692.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  65. Hössel, P., Dieing, R., Nörenberg, R., Pfau, A., and Sander, R., Int. J. Cosmet. Sci., 2000, vol. 22, p. 1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Svensson, A.V., Huang, L., Johnson, E.S., Nylander, T., and Piculell, L., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2009, vol. 1, p. 2431.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  67. Svensson, A.V., Johnson, E.S., Nylander, T., and Piculell, L., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2010, vol. 2, p. 143.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  68. Santos, O., Johnson, E.S., Nylander, T., Panandiker, R.K., Sivik, M.R., and Piculell, L., Langmuir, 2010, vol. 26, p. 9357.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  69. Clauzel, M., Johnson, E.S., Nylander, T., Panandiker, R.K., Sivik, M.R., and Piculell, L., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2011, vol. 3, p. 2451.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Chemistry 1, Lund University, PO Box 124, 221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Björn Lindman & Tommy Nylander

  2. Department of Chemistry, Coimbra University, Coimbra, Portugal

    Björn Lindman, Filipe Antunes & Maria Miguel

  3. International Postgraduate Institute “Excellence PolyTech”, Kazakh National Technical University after K.I. Satpayev, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Saule Aidarova

Authors
  1. Björn Lindman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Filipe Antunes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Saule Aidarova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Maria Miguel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tommy Nylander
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Björn Lindman.

Additional information

The article is published in the original.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lindman, B., Antunes, F., Aidarova, S. et al. Polyelectrolyte-surfactant association—from fundamentals to applications. Colloid J 76, 585–594 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1061933X14050111

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1061933X14050111

Keywords

Search

Navigation