Field-Theoretic Simulations of Polyelectrolyte Complexation
Soft Condensed Matter
2015-05-13 v2 Materials Science
Abstract
We briefly discuss our recent field-theoretic study of polyelectrolyte complexation, which occurs in solutions of two oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. Charged systems require theoretical methods beyond the mean-field (or self-consistent field) approximation; indeed, mean-field theory is qualitatively incorrect for such polyelectrolyte solutions. Both analytical (one-loop) and numerical (complex Langevin) methods to account for charge correlations are discussed. In particular, the first application of field-theoretic simulations to polyelectrolyte systems is reported. The polyelectrolyte charge-charge correlation length and a phase diagram are provided; effects of charge redistribution are qualitatively explored.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0705.0718,
title = {Field-Theoretic Simulations of Polyelectrolyte Complexation},
author = {Yuri O. Popov and Jonghoon Lee and Glenn H. Fredrickson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0705.0718},
year = {2015}
}