Related papers: Polyelectrolyte chains in poor solvent. A variatio…
Using molecular dynamics simulations we study the behavior of a dilute solution of strongly charged polyelectrolytes in poor solvents, where we take counterions explicitly into account. We focus on the chain conformational properties under…
We present simulations on charged polymers in poor solvent. First we investigate in detail the dilute concentration range with and without imposed extension constraints. The resulting necklace polymer conformations are analyzed in detail.…
Using a continuum description, we account for fluctuations in the ionic solvent surrounding a Gaussian, charged chain and derive an effective short-ranged potential between the charges on the chain. This potential is repulsive at short…
By means of a variational approach we study the conditions under which a polyelectrolyte in a bad solvent will undergo a transition from a rod-like structure to a ``necklace'' structure in which the chain collapses into a series of globules…
We study theoretically using scaling arguments the behavior of polyelectrolyte gels in poor solvents. Following the classical picture of Katchalsky, our approach is based on single chain elasticity but it accounts for the recently proposed…
Polyelectrolytes in poor solvents show a necklace structure where collapsed polymer pearls are linked to stretched strings. In the present paper the elasticity of such chains is studied in detail. Different deformation regimes are…
We perform extensive molecular dynamics simulations of a highly charged flexible polyelectrolyte (PE) chain in a poor solvent for the case when the chain is in a collapsed state and the electrostatic interactions, characterized by the…
We present a set of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of strongly charged, flexible polyelectrolyte chains under poor solvent conditions in a salt free solution. Structural properties of the chains and of the solutions are reported. By…
A variational approach is considered to calculate the free energy and the conformational properties of a polyelectrolyte chain in $d$ dimensions. We consider in detail the case of pure Coulombic interactions between the monomers, when…
Properties of polyelectrolytes in tetravalent salt solutions are intensively investigated by a coarse-grained model. The concentration of salt and the size of tetravalent counterions are found playing a decisive role on chain properties. If…
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 study the bending rigidity of highly charged stiff polyelectrolytes, for both a single chain and many chains forming a bundle. A theory is developed to account for the interplay between competitive binding of counterions and charge…
Constant temperature molecular dynamics simulations were used to study solutions of flexible polyelectrolyte chains at nonzero concentrations with explicit counterions and unscreened coulombic interactions. Counterion condensation, measured…
A new quantitative theory for polyelectrolytes in salt free dilute solutions is developed. Depending on the electrostatic interaction strength, polyelectrolytes in solutions can undergo strong stretching (with polyelectrolyte dimension…
Conformational properties of a single flexible polyelectrolyte chain in a poor solvent are studied using constant temperature molecular dynamics simulation. The effects of counterions are explicitly taken in to account. Structural…
1. Introduction 2. Charged chains at infinite dilution - asymptotic properties 2.1 Definition of the model and Flory-like calculation 2.2 Variational approaches 2.3 Renormalization group calculations 2.4 Screening of electrostatic…
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…
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.…
The combination of two techniques (Small Angle X-ray Scattering and Atomic Force Microscopy) has allowed us to measure in reciprocal and real space the correlation length $\xi$ of salt-free aqueous solutions of highly charged hydrophobic…
We perform extensive molecular dynamics simulations of a charged polymer in a good solvent in the regime where the chain is collapsed. We analyze the dependence of the gyration radius $R_g $ on the reduced Bjerrum length $\ell_B$ and find…