Related papers: Potential of mean force and transient states in po…
We report results from a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation on the conformations of a long flexible polyelectrolyte complexed to a charged sphere, \textit{both negatively charged}, in the presence of neutralizing counterions in the strong…
A new potential of mean force is proposed for colloidal dispersions, which is obtained from coarse grained, pair interactions between colloidal particles formed by the explicit grouping of particles that are themselves groups of atoms and…
The effective charge of a rigid polyelectrolyte (PE) approaching an oppositely charged surface is studied. The cases of a weak (annealed) and strongly charged PE with condensed counterions (such as DNA) are discussed. In the most…
We introduce a generalized non-uniform mean-field formalism to describe the dissociation of weak rod-like polyelectrolytes (PEs). Our approach allows for two-sublattice symmetry breaking which in titration curves is associated with a…
We study the segmental dynamics of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) from microscopic simulations in the neat polymer and a polymer electrolyte (PEO/LiBF$_4$) by analyzing the normal modes. We verify the applicability of the Rouse theory,…
We study the reentrant condensation of polyelectrolytes in dilute solutions of small multivalent salts, whose phase-transition mechanism remains poorly understood. Motivated by recent full atomic simulation results reported by the Caltech…
Counterion distribution around an isolated flexible polyelectrolyte in the presence of a divalent salt is evaluated using the adsorption model [M. Muthukumar, J. Chem. Phys. {\bf 120}, 9343 (2004)] that considers Bjerrum length, salt…
The behavior of polyelectrolytes and polyampholytes in semi-dilute solutions is investigated theoretically. Various statistical charge distributions along the polyelectrolyte chains are considered: smeared, annealed, permuted and quenched.…
Frontal polymerization is a promising energy-saving method for rapid fabrication of polymer components with good mechanical properties. In these systems, a small energy input is sufficient to convert monomers, from a liquid or soft solid…
We adapt the Edwards-Muthukumar theoretical framework for a single polymer chain to investigate the interplay between proton binding and counterion condensation for poly-acids. We find that changes to pH enable non-monotonic transitions…
We study the equilibrium conformations of a grafted polyelectrolyte (PE) in the presence of explicit counterions (CI) using Monte Carlo simulations. The interplay between attractive Lennard-Jones interactions (parametrized by epsilon), and…
Dilute solutions of strongly charged polymer electrolytes undergo, upon addition of multivaltent salt to the solutions, a phase transition from extended conformations to collapsed or bundled ones. Upon further addition of salt they…
We provide a theory for the dynamics of collapse of strongly charged polyelectrolytes (PEs) and flexible polyampholytes (PAs) using Langevin equation. After the initial stage, in which counterions condense onto PE, the mechanism of approach…
Ionic electro-active polymer (Nafion for example) can be used as sensor or actuator. To this end, a thin film of the water-saturated material is sandwiched between two electrodes. Water saturation causes a quasi-complete dissociation of the…
Mean-field theory is used to model polyelectrolyte adsorption and the possibility of overcompensation of charged surfaces. For charged surfaces that are also chemically attractive, the overcharging is large in high salt conditions,…
We propose a detailed description of the structure of the layer formed by polyelectrolyte chains adsorbed onto an oppositely charged surface in the semi-dilute regime. We combine the mean-field Poisson-Boltzmann-Edwards theory and the…
The electrical conductivity in dense plasmas can be calculated with the relaxation-time approximation provided that the interaction potential between the scattering electron and the ion is known. To date there has been considerable…
We investigate the complexation of a highly charged sphere with a long flexible polyelectrolyte, \textit{both negatively charged} in salt free environment. Electroneutrality is insured by the presence of divalent counterions. Using…
We present the results of extensive computer simulations performed on solutions of monodisperse charged rod-like polyelectrolytes in the presence of trivalent counterions. To overcome energy barriers we used a combination of parallel…
The number of configurations of a polymer is reduced in the presence of a barrier or an obstacle. The resulting loss of entropy adds a repulsive component to other forces generated by interaction potentials. When the obstructions are scale…