Complex formation between polyelectrolytes and ionic surfactants

The interaction between polyelectrolyte and ionic surfactant is of great importance in different areas of chemistry and biology. In this Letter we present a theory of polyelectrolyte–ionic-surfactant solutions. The new theory successfully explains the cooperative transition observed experimentally, in which the condensed counterions are replaced by ionic surfactants. The transition is found to occur at surfactant densities much lower than those for a similar transition in non-ionic polymer–surfactant solutions. Possible application of DNA surfactant complex formation to polynucleotide delivery systems is also mentioned.