Macromolecules, Vol.35, No.11, 4531-4538, 2002
Phase diagram of diblock polyampholyte solutions
We discuss in this paper the phase diagram of a diblock polyampholyte solution in the limit of high ionic strength as a function of concentration and charge asymmetry. This system is shown to be very similar to solutions of so-called charged-neutral diblock copolymers: at zero charge asymmetry, the solution phase separates into a polyelectrolyte complex and almost pure solvent. Above a charge asymmetry threshold, the copolymers are soluble as finite size aggregates. Scaling laws of the aggregates radius as a function of pH of the solution are in qualitative agreement with experiments.