ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY IN POLYELECTROLYTE SOLUTIONS

The electrophoretic mobility of polyions and counterions can be studied in polyelectrolyte solutions by radioactive labeling of either polyions or counterions if the condensation of counterions is complete. In the case of heparin, a polysaccharide widely used for biomedical applications, the observed electrophoretic mobilities can be interpreted as the result of the structural charges and friction coefficients of the bare polyion, i.e., before the counterion's condensation, followed by their condensation, and the long-range electrostatic interaction between polyions and free uncondensed ions. This long-range effect is well described by the mean spherical approximation.