The adsorption of sodium poly(4-styrene sulfonate) on oppositely charged beta-FeOOH particles is studied by electrooptics. The focus of this paper is on the release of condensed counterions from adsorbed polyelectrolyte upon surface charge overcompensation. The fraction of condensed Na+ counterions on the adsorbed polyion surface is estimated according to the theory of Sens and Joanny and it is compared with the fraction of condensed counterions on nonadsorbed polyelectrolyte. The relaxation frequency of the electrooptical effect from the polymer-coated particle is found to depend on the polyelectrolyte molecular weight. This is attributed to polarization of the layer from condensed counterions on the polyion surface, being responsible for creation of the effect from particles covered with highly charged polyelectrolyte. The number of the adsorbed chains is calculated also assuming counterion condensation on the adsorbed polyelectrolyte, and semiquantative agreement is found with the result obtained from the condensed counterion polarizability of the polymer-coated particle. Our findings are in line with theoretical predictions that the fraction of condensed counterions remains unchanged due to the adsorption of highly charged polyelectrolyte onto weakly charged Substrate. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.