JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, cilt.133, sa.11, 2010 (SCI-Expanded)
We have discovered spectacular patterns formed by drying aqueous drops of sodium poly (styrene sulfonate) containing fixed amounts of sodium chloride. Crystallization of salt molecules takes place at a critical concentration and several factors such as the polyelectrolyte concentration and humidity affect the final patterns formed. The observed patterns include concentric rings, needle-like structures, chains of triangular-shaped crystallites, etc. We describe the observed phenomenology accompanied by a theoretical model for the occurrence of concentric rings.