Polyelectrolyte multilayering on a charged sphere

The adsorption of highly oppositely charged flexible polyelectrolytes on a charged sphere is investigated by means of Monte Carlo simulations in a fashion which resembles the layer-by-layer deposition technique introduced by Decher. Electroneutrality is ensured at each step by the presence of monovalent counterions (anions and cations). We study in detail the structure of the equilibrium complex. Our investigations of the first few layer formations strongly suggest that multilayering on a charged colloidal sphere is not possible as an equilibrium process with purely electrostatic interactions. We especially focus on the influence of specific (nonelectrostatic) short-range attractive interactions (e.g., van der Waals) on the stability of the multilayers.