Exploring guest molecule uptake in pH-responsive polyelectrolyte microgels via Monte Carlo simulations

= +15. For higher guest molecule charges, the polymer chains could not fully wrap around the guest molecules, to provide enough microgel charges to fully compensate for the repulsive interactions between the guest beads. In general, the uptake of guest molecules leads to a collapse of the microgel due to attractive electrostatic interactions. With the increasing size of the guest molecules, their excluded volume increases, and the microgel swells with their uptake. Adding monovalent salt slightly decreases the uptake at low ionization of the network due to electrostatic screening. The presence of salt ions with higher valency further decreases the uptake of guest molecules into a fully ionized microgel.