Overcharging of ellipsoidal particles by oppositely charged polyelectrolytes

Electric light scattering method is used to study complexation between polyelectrolyte molecules and oppositely charged ellipsoidal particles. Attention is focused on the charge inversion that occurs when polyelectrolytes of different charge density, chain length and flexibility adsorb on oxide particles in water medium. In particular, we are interested in the similarity observed between the electrical properties of adsorbed and nonadsorbed polymers in regime of the surface charge overcompensation. The electro-optical results show that, at plateau adsorption, the particles assume the charge characteristic of the polymer. The extension of the adsorbed layer into a vertical direction, in which case the overcharging is caused by dangling loops and tails, is supposed to explain this observation.