<p>The newfound capability of creating moisture sensitive interference multilayered thin films (MLTFs) comprising microfibrillated cellulose and polymers has not previously been possible to implement on surfaces other than silicon wafer strips. Being able to incorporate interference MLTFs on fibre-based materials would introduce the possibility for new applications within authentication, sensing and customer attraction for the paper and packaging industry. By using trichloro (1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyl) silane we were able to hydrophobically modify silicon substrates, enabling interference MLTF lift-off and thus the creation of free-standing MLTFs of approximately 400 nm thickness. Contact dried MLTFs approximately 250 nm thick, were successfully transferred to copy- and filter paper as well as to cellulose-based dialysis membranes. We can also report on the successful synthesis of interference MLTFs directly on a fibre composite material and on aluminium. Initial tests of a method to quantify the pull-off conditions of the MLTFs from the fluorinated surfaces using the Micro Adhesion Measurement Apparatus showed promising results.</p>

Surface modification techniques have played important roles in various aspects of modern technology. They have been employed to improve substrates by altering surface physicochemical properties. An ideal surface modifying technique would be a method that is applicable to any kind of materials prepared from a wide range of polymers and that can occur under mild reaction conditions. The work in this thesis has utilized four main concepts: I) the development of a ‘grafting-from’ technique by covalently growing polymer grafts from particle surfaces, II) the presence of steric and electrosteric forces due to long-range repulsive interactions between particles, III) a combined surface grafting and layer-by-layer approach to create polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) on particle surfaces to fabricate strong and functional materials, and IV) the roles of hydrophilic polymer grafts and substrate geometry on surface degradation. A non-destructive surface grafting technique was developed and applied to polylactide (PLA) particle surfaces. Their successful modification was verified by observed changes to the surface chemistry, morphology and topography of the particles. To quantify the aggregation behavior of grafted and non-grafted particles, force interaction measurements were performed using colloidal probe atomic force microscopy (AFM). Long-range repulsive interactions were observed when symmetric systems, i.e., hydrophilic polymer grafts on two interacting surfaces, and asymmetric system were applied. Electrosteric forces were observed when the symmetric substrates interacted at pH 7.4. When PEMs were alternately assembled on the surface of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) particles, the grafted surfaces played a dominated role in altering the surface chemistry and morphology of the particles. Three-dimensional scaffolds of surface grafted particle coated with PEMs demonstrated high mechanical performance that agreed well with the mechanical performance of cancellous bone. Nanomaterials were used to functionalize the scaffolds and further influence their physicochemical properties. For example, when magnetic nanoparticles were used to functionalize the scaffolds, a high electrical conductivity was imparted, which is important for bone tissue regeneration. Furthermore, the stability of the surface grafted particles was evaluated in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution. The nature of the hydrophilic polymer grafts and the geometry of the PLLA substrates played central roles in altering the surface properties of films and particles. After 10 days of PBS immersion, larger alterations in the surface morphology were observed on the film compared with microparticles grafted with poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). In contrast to the PAA-grafted substrates, the morphology of poly(acrylamide) (PAAm)-grafted substrates was not affected by PBS immersion. Additionally, PAAm-grafted microparticulate substrates encountered surface degradation more rapidly than PAAm-grafted film substrates. / <p>QC 20151002</p>

The newfound capability of creating moisture sensitive interference multilayered thin films (MLTFs) comprising microfibrillated cellulose and polymers has not previously been possible to implement on surfaces other than silicon wafer strips. Being able to incorporate interference MLTFs on fibre-based materials would introduce the possibility for new applications within authentication, sensing and customer attraction for the paper and packaging industry. By using trichloro (1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyl) silane we were able to hydrophobically modify silicon substrates, enabling interference MLTF lift-off and thus the creation of free-standing MLTFs of approximately 400 nm thickness. Contact dried MLTFs approximately 250 nm thick, were successfully transferred to copy- and filter paper as well as to cellulose-based dialysis membranes. We can also report on the successful synthesis of interference MLTFs directly on a fibre composite material and on aluminium. Initial tests of a method to quantify the pull-off conditions of the MLTFs from the fluorinated surfaces using the Micro Adhesion Measurement Apparatus showed promising results.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

In the past decade there has been a growing interest in one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures, such as nanowires, nanotubes and nanorods, owing to their size-dependent optical and electronic properties and their potential application as building blocks, interconnects and functional components for assembling nanodevices. One of the ways to obtain such architectures is a template-directed synthesis which is practically a straightforward route to 1D nanostructures. In this approach, the template simply serves as a scaffold, within (or around) which a different material is generated in situ and shaped into a nanostructure with its morphology complementary to that of the template. It is generally accepted that template-directed synthesis provides a simple, high-throughput, and cost-effective procedure that also allows the complex topology present on the surface of a template to be duplicated in a single step. In the current work, utilization of the molecular bottle brushes as templates is proposed for the fabrication of conductive nanorods. Their non-spherical macromolecular geometries and lengths up to a few hundred nanometers allow the application of these structures in nanowire synthesis. The variety of molecular bottle brush architectures and their composition enables the adjustment of appropriate conditions for the preparation of conductive materials. Moreover, the ability of the brushes to assemble on a surface under certain conditions provides their usage as building blocks for the preparation of complex conductive networks. Here, the preparation, characterization, and applications of molecular bottle brushes are discussed. Two main goals were pursued. First, to deepen the knowledge in the synthesis of molecular bottle brushes, and to investigate their behavior on the surface. Second, to explore the application of the brushes as templates or building blocks for the formation of conductive nanowires. For the purpose, new ways of molecular brush synthesis by using the “grafting to” approach had to be developed. It was found that the reaction of nucleophilic addition based on pentofluorophenol chemistry and a coupling “click chemistry” reaction can be used to fabricate molecular brushes. Both methods showed efficient results and demonstrated high reactivity of the backbone with the end groups of the side chains. The “click chemistry” approach, however, demonstrated better results considering higher thicknesses of the brushes and, therefore, higher grafting density of the side chains. The “grafting to” together with the “grafting from” methods are very powerful synthetic tools, which can be used in the fabrication of any desired molecular bottle brush architectures. Additionally, complexation of oppositely charged bottle polymer brushes at a single-molecule level using AFM and CryoTEM was experimentally investigated. It was found that polyelectrolyte complexes have “scrambled-egg” morphology, where oppositely charged polymer chains are not oriented parallel to each other but cross each other. Furthermore, molecular bottle brushes were used as templates for the preparation of conductive nanowires. Three approaches for their fabrication were tested. It was found that brushes could easily be covered with various conductive materials, for example conductive polymers or metals. It was showed that for very small, tiny objects as molecular bottle brushes, one can use FIB in order to build up electrodes at its ends. The electrodes could be sputtered with an accuracy of 500 nm and further be used in the determination of the conductivity. The molecular bottle brushes covered with palladium showed the resistance of 50 MΩ, which, regarding the size of the brush, corresponds to a conductivity of one single molecule being ~1 S*cm-1. The obtained conductivity data were in good correlation with the data found in literature. We believe that the molecular bottle brushes have high potential applicability for the building of complex conductive networks. Future refinement of the synthetic methods, combined with improvements in structuring and positioning of objects at the nanoscale, could lead to their implementation in the construction of high-performance electronic devices.

The development of the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique has turned out to be an efficient way to physically modify the surface properties of different materials, for example to improve the adhesive interactions between fibers in paper. The main objective of the work described in this thesis was to obtain fundamental data concerning the adhesive properties of wood biopolymers and LbL films, including the mechanical properties of the thin films, in order to shed light on the molecular mechanisms responsible for the adhesion between these materials. LbLs constructed from poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH)/poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), starch containing LbL films, and LbL films containing nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) were studied with respect to their adhesive and mechanical properties. The LbL formation was studied using a combination of stagnation point adsorption reflectometry (SPAR) and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) and the adhesive properties of the different LbL films were studied in water using atomic force microscopy (AFM) colloidal probe measurements and under ambient conditions using the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) approach. Finally the mechanical properties were investigated by mechanical buckling and the recently developed SIEBIMM technique (strain-induced elastic buckling instability for mechanical measurements). From colloidal probe AFM measurements of the wet adhesive properties of surfaces treated with PAH/PAA it was concluded that the development of strong adhesive joints is very dependent on the mobility of the polyelectrolytes and interdiffusion across the interface between the LbL treated surfaces to allow for polymer entanglements. Starch is a renewable, cost-efficient biopolymer that is already widely used in papermaking which makes it an interesting candidate for the formation of LbL films in practical systems. It was shown, using SPAR and QCM-D, that LbL films can be successfully constructed from cationic and anionic starches on silicon dioxide and on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. Colloidal probe AFM measurements showed that starch LbL treatment have potential for increasing the adhesive interaction between solid substrates to levels beyond those that can be reached by a single layer of cationic starch. Furthermore, it was shown by SIEBIMM measurements that the elastic properties of starch-containing LbL films can be tailored using different nanoparticles in combination with starch. LbL films containing cellulose I nanofibrils were constructed using anionic NFC in combination with cationic NFC and poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) respectively. These NFC films were used as cellulose model surfaces and colloidal probe AFM was used to measure the adhesive interactions in water. Furthermore, PDMS caps were successfully coated by LbL films containing NFC which enabled the first known JKR adhesion measurements between cellulose/cellulose, cellulose/lignin and cellulose/glucomannan. The measured adhesion and adhesion hysteresis were similar for all three systems indicating that there are no profound differences in the interaction between different wood biopolymers. Finally, the elastic properties of PEI/NFC LbL films were investigated using SIEBIMM and it was shown that the stiffness of the films was highly dependent on the relative humidity. / <p>QC 20110923</p>

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The increase on swine livestock activity demands profitable resources and environmentally sustainable for the treatment, disposal and the residual water reuse. Due to the high wastewater volume, they have a huge pollutant load, among them several metals, that can cause environment impact. This work presents an evaluation of phase separation for Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr and Zn removal in swine manure through the coagulation and flocculation whit synthetic and natural polyelectrolyte. For this proposal, the metals were monitored in the effluent and solid-liquid separation assays (Jar Test) with poliphenolic polymer (Tannin) and polyacrilamide (PAM) applied at different concentration. The optimization was accomplished by the application of factorial design. For the metal determination three mixtures of reagents had been evaluated (nitric acid + perchloric acid, sulfuric acid + hydrogen peroxide and nitric acid + hydrogen peroxide) for samples decomposition of swine manure, the best result for recovery and correlation was found to nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide mixture. After the separation of the liquid fraction, reductions between 68 and 99% were found out in the investigated metal concentrations. Besides that, reductions over 90% for chemical oxygen demand were also observed. A significant influence in turbidity removal only by the tannin utilization was found out. However the PAM application improved directly the flocks generation and influenced the sludge volume reduction. The polyelectrolyte use provided the reduction of metal concentration in the wastewater to adjust to the brazilian legislation for discharging into water bodies or for reuse in irrigation systems. The sludge produced after the solid-liquid separation also showed concentrations of inorganic constituents below of maximum limits claimed by legislation for the agricultural use. / O crescimento da atividade suinícola demanda recursos rentáveis e ambientalmente sustentáveis para o tratamento, disposição e reuso de suas águas residuárias. Além de seu grande volume de efluentes, estes possuem alta carga de poluentes, entre eles diversos metais, danosos ao meio ambiente. Este trabalho apresenta uma avaliação da separação de fases para remoção de Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr e Zn em dejetos de suínos através de coagulação e floculação com polieletrólitos, sintético e natural. Para isso, monitoraram-se os metais no efluente e foram realizados ensaios de separação sólido-líquido (Teste de Jarro) com aplicação de polímero polifenólico natural (tanino) e poliacrilamida (PAM). As otimizações foram realizadas aplicando planejamento fatorial. Para as determinações de metais foram avaliadas decomposições de amostras de dejeto de suíno empregando três misturas de reagentes (ácido nítrico + ácido perclórico, ácido sulfúrico + peróxido de hidrogênio, ácido nítrico + peróxido de hidrogênio), onde os resultados de recuperação e correlação permitiram a escolha da mistura ácido nítrico e peróxido de hidrogênio. Foram observadas reduções entre 68% e 99% nas concentrações dos metais investigados após separação da fração líquida, além de reduções superiores 90% para a demanda química de oxigênio e superiores a 98% para a turbidez. Foi constatada interação na remoção de turbidez somente ao emprego de Tanino, porém a aplicação de PAM melhorou diretamente a formação dos flocos e sedimentação do lodo. Os polieletrólitos proporcionaram a redução da concentração de metais na água residuária, auxiliando no enquadramento das concentrações dos metais investigados à legislação, para descarte em corpos de água receptores ou ao reuso em sistemas de irrigação. O lodo produzido após a separação sólido-líquido apresentou concentrações de constituintes inorgânicos abaixo dos limites máximos exigidos pela legislação para o uso agrícola.

Les liquides confinés présentent beaucoup de comportements fascinants, très différents de ceux qui sont observés dans leur volume. Le confinement peut induire un déplacement de l'équilibre des phases (par exemple de la transition liquide-vapeur, aussi appelé condensation capillaire), il peut modifier la température de transition vitreuses des polymères, ou bien imposer un ordre dans l'arrangement moléculaire du fluide. Les modifications des propriétés mécaniques des liquides aux interfaces sont particulièrement importantes au niveau des applications. Cependant au niveau de la compréhension, le simple cas des liquides newtoniens est toujours sujet à controverse, avec d'une part des simulations numériques montrant que la viscosité ne devrait pas être modifiée pour des confinements supérieurs à quelques tailles moléculaires, et d'autre part des expériences non unanimes, montrant parfois des modifications qualitatives des propriétés rhéologiques sous confinement. Récemment nous avons montré que les méthodes d'impédance hydrodynamique en géométrie sphère-plan constituent une méthode privilégiée, non-intrusive et non-ambigüe, pour aborder la nano-mécanique des liquides aux interfaces (1,2). S'agissant d'interphases, cad de couches fluides dont les propriétés sont modifiées par la proximité d'un solide, il est possible d'accéder à leur module sans contact, donc sans la perturbation apportée par une seconde surface. S'agissant de l'effet du confinement sur la rhéologie, nous avons montré que la déformation élastique à l'échelle du pico-mètre des surfaces confinantes, donne une forte modification de la rhéologie apparente du fluide, même en l'absence de tout effet intrinsèque. Le sujet de thèse vise à mettre en oeuvre les méthodes d'impédance hydrodynamique pour étudier la rhéologie de solutions de polymères confinés. On étudiera plus précisément deux systèmes modèles d'importance fondamentale aussi bien que pratique : les brosses de polymères greffés, dont les propriétés mécaniques sont un enjeu dans les applications de lubrification aussi bien que pour les écoulements biologiques, et les solutions de polymères hydro-solubles d'intérêt pour la récupération assistée du pétrole, en vue de comprendre les effets de fluidification sous confinement et de faire la part entre modification de la viscosité et couche de déplétion induite par l'écoulement. Au niveau instrumental, un des enjeux de la thèse sera de mettre en oeuvre les mesures d'impédance hydrodynamique sur deux types d'instruments complémentaires au niveau de l'échelle de la sonde: l'appareil de mesure de forces dynamique (SFA) du Liphy, et l'AFM à détection interférométrique développé à l'Institut Néel. Ces différentes échelles d'investigation devront permettre de préciser les propriétés moyennes mécaniques moyennes des liquides confinés et leurs gradients au voisinage de la paroi. Une perspective du travail sera de mettre en regard les propriétés mécaniques et rhéologiques intrinsèques des brosses polymères déterminées directement sur SFA ou AFM, avec leur propriétés fonctionnelles: propriétés de lubrification des contacts frottants, ou de modification des écoulements des dans micro-canaux. Ceci sera poursuivi sur la plateforme expérimentale mise en place par Lionel Bureau au Liphy : SFA de friction, systèmes micro-fluidiques à visée biomimétique (parois fonctionnalisées par des brosses polymères). L'enjeu sera alors de comprendre comment les propriétés mécaniques et rhéologiques des brosses déterminent celles des systèmes dans lesquels elles interviennent. / Liquids confined present many fascinating behaviors very different from those observed in their volume. Confinement can induce a shift in the balance of phases (eg the liquid-vapor transition, also called capillary condensation), it can change the glass transition temperature of the polymer, or impose order on the molecular arrangement of fluid. The changes in the mechanical properties of liquid interfaces are particularly important in applications. However the level of understanding, the simple case of Newtonian liquids is still controversial, with one hand, numerical simulations show that the viscosity should not be changed for some higher molecular sizes containment, and secondly non-unanimous experiences, sometimes showing qualitative changes in rheological properties under confinement. Recently we have shown that the methods of hydrodynamic impedance sphere-plane geometry is a privileged, non-intrusive method and unambiguous, to discuss the mechanics of nano-liquid interfaces (1,2). As interphase, ie fluid layers whose properties are modified by the proximity of a solid, it is possible to accede their contactless module, so without the disturbance caused by a second surface.S As regards the effect of confinement on the rheology, we have shown that the elastic deformation across the pico meter of confining surfaces, gives a strong modification beyond apparent rheology of the fluid, even in the absence of any intrinsic effect. The thesis aims to implement the hydrodynamic impedance methods to study the rheology of polymer solutions confined. We specifically consider two models of fundamental importance as well as practical systems: brushes grafted polymer whose mechanical properties are an issue in lubrication applications as well as for biological flows and solutions of water-soluble polymers interest in enhanced oil recovery, in order to understand the effects of thinning containment and to distinguish between changes in viscosity and depletion layer induced by the flow. At the instrumental level, one of the challenges of the thesis is to implement the hydrodynamic impedance measurements on two complementary instruments at the level of the probe: the measuring dynamic power (SFA) of Liphy, and AFM interferometric detection developed at the Institut Néel. These different scales of investigation will help to clarify the medium average mechanical properties of liquids confined and their gradients near the wall. A view of work will be to look mechanical and rheological properties of polymer brushes intrinsic determined directly on SFA or AFM with their functional properties: lubricating properties of sliding contacts, or modification of the flow in microchannels. This will continue on the implementation by Lionel Bureau Liphy experimental platform: SFA friction advised biomimetic micro-fluidic systems (walls functionalized polymer brushes). The challenge will be to understand how the mechanical and rheological properties of brushes determine those systems in which they operate.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:36:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6787.pdf: 6528368 bytes, checksum: 59d1763870e2de400270ed05b0ac6675 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-25 / Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos / Polyelectrolytes complexes (PECs) are defined as materials formed by combining oppositely charged polyelectrolytes together via ionic interaction. PECs have some unique physical properties such as non-solubility in common organic solvents, high surface hydrophilicity, tunable surface charge, and stable structures. A new type of PEC based on chitosan (CS) and sulfonate poly(ethylene terephthalate) (SPET) were synthesized in two different media, buffer solution and salt solution acidified with acetic acid. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), zeta potencial, X-ray diffraction, thermal gravity analysis and differential scanning calorimetry were used to characterize the chemical structure, particle charge, crystallinity and thermal stability. To assess how the internal structure of the PEC and the subsequent membrane formation can affect water and salts transport capacity of microporous polycarbonate membrane, PECs solutions were spread via casting in commercial membranes with pore size of 5 &#956;m. These membranes were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Water Vapor Flux, Resistance to Ion Migration and Membrane Potential. FTIR results indicated the electrostatic interaction of polyelectrolyte to form the polyelectrolyte complex. From the results of zeta potential it was found that the surfaces of CS/SPET nanoparticles have positive charges of about 25 to 44 mV. TGA curves showed that the PECs were more stable than their polyelectrolytes. The deposition of the PEC on the membranes was confirmed by SEM images and the increase of water vapor flux of membranes indicated that the presence of the complex significantly alter the hydrophilic profile of the polycarbonate matrix. The microfiltration of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells demonstrated that membranes modified with PECs retained more of these organisms than the commercial membrane without modification. / Complexos de polieletrólitos (PECs) são definidos como materiais formados pela combinação de polieletrólitos de cargas opostas via interação eletrostática. PECs possuem algumas propriedades únicas como não solubilidade em solventes comuns, alta hidrofilicidade, superfícies modificáveis e estruturas estáveis. Um novo tipo de PEC baseado em quitosana (QT) e poli(tereftalato de etileno) sulfonado (PET-S) foi sintetizado em dois meios diferentes, uma solução tampão ácida e uma solução salina acidificada. Espectroscopia de infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (FTIR), potencial zeta, difração de raios X, análise termogravimétrica e calorimetria diferencial exploratória foram usados para caracterizar a estrutura química, carga da partícula, cristalinidade e estabilidade térmica. Para avaliar como a estrutura interna do PEC e a subsequente formação de membrana pode afetar o transporte de água e sais em membranas de policarbonato microporosas, soluções de PEC foram espalhadas via casting em membranas comerciais com tamanho de poro de 5 &#956;m. As membranas foram caracterizadas utilizando microscopia eletrônica de varredura, transporte de vapor de água, resistência a migração iônica e potencial de membrana. Resultados de FTIR comprovaram a interação eletrostática entre os polieletrólitos e consequentemente a formação dos PECs. O potencial zeta dos PECs apontou que eles apresentam superfícies positivas que variam de 25 a 44 mV. O TGA demonstrou que os PECs são termicamente mais estáveis do que seus polieletrólitos precursores. A deposição dos PECs sobre as membranas foi confirmada pelo MEV e o aumento do fluxo de vapor de água indicou que a presença dos PECs altera significativamente o caráter hidrofílico do policarbonato. A microfiltração de células Saccharomyces cerevisiae mostrou que as membranas modificadas com PECs reteram mais desses organismos do que a membrana comercial sem modificação.

L’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier les interactions entre polyélectrolytes (PE) de charges opposées par analyse frontale continue en électrophorèse capillaire (FACCE) et par titration calorimétrique isotherme (ITC), en fonction de la force ionique du milieu et des paramètres physico-chimiques relatifs aux deux partenaires (taux de charge chimique, masse molaire, ramification). Un copolymère statistique d’acrylamide et de 2-acrylamido-2-méthyl-propane sulfonate (PAMAMPS) de taux de charge variant entre 15% et 100% a été synthétisé et caractérisé pour cette étude. En tant que polycation modèle, la poly(L-lysine) a été retenue, sous sa forme linéaire (PLL) ou ramifiée / hyperbranchée (DGL). Des mesures par turbidimétrie ont permis d’étudier la stabilité des complexes de polyélectrolytes (PEC) en fonction de la force ionique du milieu. La détermination de la stœchiométrie des PEC par 1H-RMN a permis d’établir une règle générale pour prédire les stœchiométries de charge des PEC. Les paramètres thermodynamiques d’interactions (constantes et stœchiométries d’interaction, contribution entropique et enthalpique) ont été déterminés, par le tracé systématique des isothermes d’adsorption, en considérant le modèle d’interactions des sites indépendants de même énergie. Une dépendance linéaire entre le logarithme des constantes d’interactions et le logarithme de la force ionique a été observée. Cette dépendance en force ionique confirme le caractère entropique des interactions entre PE de charges opposées. Elle permet aussi de quantifier le nombre de contre-ions relargués lors de la formation du PEC. Cette quantité de contre-ions libérés a pu être comparée à la quantité totale de contre-ions condensés. Cette modélisation permet, en outre, de prédire les constantes d’interaction pour des taux de charge intermédiaires et à différentes forces ioniques. / The aim of this thesis is to study the interactions between oppositely charged polyelectrolytes (PE) by frontal analysis continuous capillary electrophoresis (FACCE) and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) as a function of the ionic strength of the medium and the physico-chemical properties related to the two partners (chemical charge density, molar mass, ramification). Statistical copolymers of acrylamide and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-propane sulfonate (PAMAMPS) with chemical charge densities varying between 15% and 100% were synthesized and characterized for this study. Poly(L-lysine) under their linear (PLL) or ramified/hyperbranched (DGL) forms were used as model polycations. Turbidity measurements allowed the study of the stability of the polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) as a function of the ionic strength of the medium. PEC charge stoichiometries were measured by 1H-NMR, and a general predictive rule that estimates the PEC charge stoichiometry was enounced. The thermodynamic binding parameters (binding constant, stoichiometry, enthalpic and entropic contributions) were determined, by systematically plotting the isotherms of adsorption, and using the model of independent and identical interacting sites. A linear dependence between the logarithm of the binding constants and the logarithm of the ionic strength was observed. This linear dependence confirmed the entropic character of the interactions between oppositely charged PE and allowed quantifying the number of released counter-ions that were compared to the total number of condensed counter-ions. Furthermore, this modelling allowed predicting the binding constants for intermediate chemical charge densities and at different ionic strengths.