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45430-AC7
Optical Tracer Self Diffusion Studies of Polyelectrolytes at Low Salt

Paul S. Russo, Louisiana State University

We have been constructing a new apparatus to determine, for the first time, the lifetime of "temporal aggregates" spontaneously formed by polyelectrolytes at low salt. The device will provide self-diffusion information similar to a traditional fluorescence photobleaching recovery instrument, but on distance scales comparable to dynamic light scattering, which returns instead the more difficult-to-interpret mutual diffusion coefficient. Additionally, upgrades to our traditional fluorescence photobleaching recovery apparatus are preceding measurements of ternary polyelectrolyte solutions (labeled PE/unlabeled PE/water). As new and expanded capabilities are the first steps to the planned project, there are no articles to report in the first year.

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