Related papers: Polymer Complexation: Partially Ionizable Asymmetr…
A weakly charged flexible polyelectrolyte chain in a neutral spherical cavity is analyzed using self-consistent field theory (SCFT) within an explicit solvent model. Assuming the radial symmetry for the system, it is found that the…
We investigate the collapse kinetics of charged polymers (polyelectrolytes) induced by counterion condensation using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. Under good solvent conditions, polyelectrolytes above the critical charge…
The transport of polyelectrolytes confined by oppositely charged surfaces and driven by a constant electric field is of interest in studies of DNA separation according to size. Using molecular dynamics simulations that include surface…
Using molecular dynamics simulations, it is demonstrated that monovalent counterions can induce aggregation of similarly charged rod-like polyelectrolyte chains. The critical value of the linear charge density for aggregation is shown to be…
Within the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) approach electrolytes in contact with planar, spherical, and cylindrical electrodes are analyzed systematically. The dependences of their capacitance $C$ on the surface charge density $\sigma$ and the ionic…
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.…
Similarly-charged polymers in solution, known as polyelectrolytes, are known to form aggregated structures in the presence of oppositely charged counterions. Understanding the dependence of the equilibrium phases and the dynamics of the…
The electrophoretic behaviour of flexible polyelectrolyte chains ranging from single monomers up to long fragments of hundred repeat units is studied by a mesoscopic simulation approach. Abstracting from the atomistic details of the…
We study the salt-dependent conformations of dilute flexible polyelectrolytes in solution via computer simulations. Low concentrations of multivalent salt induce the known conformational collapse of individual polyelectrolyte chains, but as…
We present a numerical study of polyelectrolytes electrophoresing in free solution while squeezed by an axisymmetric confinement force transverse to their net displacement. Hybrid multi-particle collision dynamics and molecular dynamics…
The persistence length of a single, intrinsically rigid polyelectrolyte chain, above the Manning condensation threshold is investigated theoretically in presence of added salt. Using a loop expansion method, the partition function is…
Modeling ion correlations in inhomogeneous polymers and soft matters with spatially varying ionic strength or dielectric permittivity remains a great challenge. Here, we develop a new theory which systematically incorporates electrostatic…
We investigate the ion distribution and overcharging at charged interfaces with dielectric inhomogeneities in the presence of asymmetric electrolytes containing polyvalent and monovalent ions. We formulate an effective "dressed counterion"…
The behavior of polyelectrolytes between charged surfaces immersed in semi-dilute solutions is investigated theoretically. A continuum mean field approach is used for calculating numerically concentration profiles between two electrodes…
Molecular dynamics simulation and recent theory are used to examine density correlations in semidilute solutions of highly charged, intrinsically flexible and hydrophilic polyelectrolytes in low salt. Quantitative comparison with no…
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…
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…
Polymer electrolytes typically exhibit diminished ionic conductivity due to the presence of correlation effects between the cations and anions. Microscopically, transient ionic aggregates, e.g. {\it ion-pairs}, {\it ion-triplets} or higher…
Polyelectrolyte complexation plays an important role in materials science and biology. The internal structure of the resultant polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) phase dictates properties such as physical state, response to external stimuli, and…
Solid polymer electrolytes are considered a promising alternative to traditional liquid electrolytes in energy storage applications because of their good mechanical properties, and excellent thermal and chemical stability. A gap, however,…