Related papers: Counterion correlations and attraction between lik…
We investigate, within a local density functional theory formalism, the interactions between like-charged polyions immersed in a confined electrolyte. We obtain a simple condition for a repulsive effective pair potential, that can be…
Experiments with polymer latex solutions show the coexistence of order-disorder structures of macroions. Because of the large macroions' sizes, this order-disorder phase coexistence imply the existence of very long-range attractive and…
The problem of DNA$-$DNA interaction mediated by divalent counterions is studied using a generalized Grand-canonical Monte-Carlo simulation for a system of two salts. The effect of the divalent counterion size on the condensation behavior…
We use Molecular Dynamics simulations to study attractive interactions and the underlying ionic correlations between parallel like-charged rods in the absence of additional salt. For a generic bulk system of rods we identify a reduction of…
Due to the strong correlations between multivalent counterions condensed on a macroion, the net macroion charge changes sign at some critical counterion concentration. This effect is known as the charge inversion. Near this critical…
A theory of condensation and resolubilization of a dilute DNA solution with growing concentration of multivalent cations, N is suggested. It is based on a new theory of screening of a macroion by multivalent cations, which shows that due to…
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 review works on screening of a macroion, such as colloidal particle or double helix DNA, by multivalent counterions. Multivalent metal ions, charged micelles, short or long polyelectrolytes can play the role of multivalent counterions.…
We present an overview of our understanding of electrostatic interactions between charged macromolecular surfaces mediated by mobile counter- and coions. The dichotomy between the weak and the strong coupling regimes is described in detail…
The interaction force between likely charged particles/surfaces is usually repulsive due to the Coulomb interaction. However, the counterintuitive like-charge attraction in electrolytes has been frequently observed in experiments, which has…
Counterion distributions and effective electrostatic interactions between spherical macroions in polyelectrolyte solutions are calculated via second-order perturbation (linear response) theory. By modelling the macroions as continuous…
The possibility that like-charges can attract each other under the mediation of mobile counterions is by now well documented experimentally, numerically, and analytically. Yet, obtaining exact results is in general impossible, or restricted…
Charge-stabilized colloidal spheres dispersed in deionized water are supposed to repel each other. Instead, artifact-corrected video microscopy measurements reveal an anomalous long-ranged like-charge attraction in the interparticle pair…
We probe the electrostatic mechanism driving adsorption of polyelectrolytes onto like-charged membranes upon the addition of tri- and tetravalent counterions to a bathing monovalent salt solution. We develop a one-loop-dressed strong…
Monte Carlo simulations were employed to study two charged rods confined between two unlike charged plates, all immersed in a model electrolyte. Recently, it was shown that two rods immersed in a multivalent counterion solution may show…
We present an analytical approach to the strong coupling regime of similarly and highly charged plates in the presence of counter-ions. The procedure is physically transparent and based on an exact expansion around the ground state formed…
The bare Coulomb interaction between two like-charges is repulsive. When these charges are immersed in an electrolyte, the thermal fluctuations of the ions turn the bare Coulomb interaction into an effective interaction between the two…
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…
A theory is presented which allows us to accurately calculate the density profile of monovalent and multivalent counterions in suspensions of polarizable colloids or nano-particles. In the case of monovalent ions, we derive a weak-coupling…
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…