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The ubiquitous biomacromolecule DNA has an axial rigidity persistence length of ~50 nm, driven by its elegant double helical structure. While double and multiple helix structures appear widely in nature, only rarely are these found in…
We study the distribution of multivalent counterions next to a dielectric slab, bearing a quenched, random distribution of charges on one of its solution interfaces, with a given mean and variance, both in the absence and in the presence of…
The process of nickel electroforming is becoming increasingly important in the manufacture of MST products, as it has the potential to replicate complex geometries with extremely high fidelity. Electroforming of nickel uses multi-component…
Interaction with divalent cations is of paramount importance for RNA structural stability and function. We here report a detailed molecular dynamics study of all the possible binding sites for Mg$^{2+}$ on a RNA duplex, including both…
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…
The control over DNA elongation in nanofluidic devices holds great potential for large-scale genomic analysis. So far, the manipulation of DNA in nanochannels has been mostly carried out with electrophoresis and seldom with hydrodynamics,…
When fragile molecules such as glycine, polyglicine, alkanes, and alkanethiols are embedded in liquid helium nanodroplets, electron-impact ionization of the beam leads to fragmentation which is as extensive as that of isolated gas-phase…
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…
Hydrophobic polyelectrolytes (HPE) can solubilize bilayer membranes, form micelles or can reversibly aggregate as a function of pH. The transitions are often remarkably sharp. We show that these cooperative transitions occur by a…
The efficiency of nanopore-based polymer sensing devices depends on the fast capture of anionic polyelectrolytes by negatively charged pores. This requires the cancellation of the electrostatic barrier associated with repulsive polymer-pore…
The ordering of a multilayer consisting of DSPC bilayers on a silica sol substrate is studied within the model-independent approach to the reconstruction of profiles of the electron density from X-ray reflectometry data. It is found that…
Dynamics of the polymorphic A<->B transitions in DNA is compared for two polypurine sequences, poly(dA).poly(dT) and poly(dG).poly(dC), long known to exhibit contrasting properties in experiments. In free molecular dynamics simulations…
The energetics of mixing and defect ordering in solid solutions of fluorite-structured ThO$_{2}$ with oxides of trivalent cations (Sc, In, Y, Nd, La) are investigated by electronic density-functional-theory (DFT). Through DFT calculations…
The structure of dilute electrolyte solutions close to a surface carrying a spatially inhomogeneous surface charge distribution is investigated by means of classical density functional theory (DFT) within the approach of fundamental measure…
Experiments using the Surface Force Apparatus (SFA) have found anomalously long ranged charge-charge underscreening in concentrated salt solutions. Meanwhile, theory and simulations have suggested ion clustering to be the possible origin of…
We present a short review of various experiments that measure charge transfer and charge transport in DNA. Some general comments are made on the possible connection between 'chemistry-style' charge transfer experiments that probe…
We investigate the influence of a non-ionic surfactant like polymer on phospholipid vesicles. Our results from cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle neutron and X-ray scattering…
We investigate the thermodynamic properties of a polyelectrolyte solution in a presence of {\it multivalent} salts. The polyions are modeled as rigid cylinders with the charge distributed uniformly along the major axis. The solution,…
The structures of dilute electrolyte solutions close to non-uniformly charged planar substrates are systematically studied within the entire spectrum of microscopic to macroscopic length scales by means of a unified classical density…
The design of hydrogels that combine mechanical robustness with dynamic reconfigurability remains a fundamental challenge, as increasing crosslink dissociation rates compromise network integrity. This limitation is addressed through the…