TY - JOUR
T1 - Polyelectrolyte condensation induced by linear cations
AU - Guáqueta, Camilo
AU - Luijten, Erik
PY - 2007/9/26
Y1 - 2007/9/26
N2 - We examine the role of the condensing agent in the formation of polyelectrolyte bundles, via grand-canonical Monte Carlo simulations. Following recent experiments we use linear, rigid divalent cations of various lengths to induce condensation. Our results clarify and explain the experimental results for short cations. For longer cations we observe novel condensation behavior owing to the alignment of the cations. We also study the role of the polyelectrolyte surface-charge density, and find a nonmonotonic variation in bundle stability. This nonmonotonicity captures two trends that have been observed in separate experiments.
AB - We examine the role of the condensing agent in the formation of polyelectrolyte bundles, via grand-canonical Monte Carlo simulations. Following recent experiments we use linear, rigid divalent cations of various lengths to induce condensation. Our results clarify and explain the experimental results for short cations. For longer cations we observe novel condensation behavior owing to the alignment of the cations. We also study the role of the polyelectrolyte surface-charge density, and find a nonmonotonic variation in bundle stability. This nonmonotonicity captures two trends that have been observed in separate experiments.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.138302
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.138302
M3 - Article
C2 - 17930645
AN - SCOPUS:34848842775
VL - 99
JO - Physical Review Letters
JF - Physical Review Letters
SN - 0031-9007
IS - 13
M1 - 138302
ER -