(716f) The Effect of Charge Monomer Sequence in Complex Coacervation

Oppositely-charged polyelectrolytes can undergo an associative phase separation to form a polymer-dense 'complex coacervate' phase. This charge-driven phase separation is used in applications ranging from food science to self-assembled materials. A fundamental understanding of these materials is necessary for materials design, however a comprehensive physical picture of complex coacervation is still emerging. Our work has led to the development of a new theoretical framework for coacervation, that is informed by coarse-grained molecular simulation. We show how this approach is capable of capturing experimental observations, including both thermodynamic and phase behavior. We extend this theoretical picture to charged monomer sequences, and link the 'blockiness' of a coacervate sequence to phase behavior in qualitative agreement with experiments, and show that we can also capture how the thermodynamics of coacervation changes with blockiness. Generalization of this theory provides insight into how materials can utilize sequence-defined polymers to control electrostatic interactions.