Solution properties of charged hydrophobic/hydrophilic copolymers

We discuss advances that have recently been achieved in the computer simulation and theoretical understanding of solutions of hydrophobic polyelectrolytes. The focus is on bioinspired ‘proteinlike’ copolymers with specific chemical sequences resembling those known for soluble proteins. Due to a complex interplay between hydrophobic attraction and Coulomb interactions, ‘proteinlike’ polyelectrolytes can readily adopt stable spherical-shaped globular conformations and can be protected against large-scale intermolecular aggregation in selective (poor) solvents. The concept of conformation-dependent sequence design, which takes into account a strong coupling between the conformation and primary structure of copolymers during their synthesis, is also discussed.