Reswelling of polyelectrolyte hydrogels by oppositely charged surfactants
The interactions between charged alkylacrylamide gels of varying hydrophobicity and charge density and the oppositely charged surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium (C(16)TA(+)) have been investigated to determine the conditions necessary to induce excess surfactant binding (beyond charge neutralization) and resolubilization of the polymer-surfactant complex. In all cases, an initial gel collapse o