  The adsorption of flexible and highly charged polyelectrolytes onto
oppositely charged planar surfaces is investigated by means of Monte Carlo
simulations. The effect of image forces stemming from the dielectric
discontinuity at the substrate interface is considered. The influence, at fixed
polyelectrolyte volume fraction, of chain length and surface-charge density is
also considered. A detailed structural study, including monomer and fluid
charge distributions, is provided. It is demonstrated that image forces can
considerably reduce the degree of polyelectrolyte adsorption and concomitantly
inhibit the charge inversion of the substrate by polyelectrolytes.
