Counterion-Induced Attraction between Rigid Polyelectrolytes

Journal Article · Fri Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1997 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.2477· OSTI ID:477043

Bruinsma, R F ^[1]; Mashl, R J; Gelbart, W M ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90024 (United States)
2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90024 (United States)

We report on results of long-time Brownian-dynamics simulations of electrostatic interactions between two rigid polyelectrolyte rods. We find that the interaction can be both repulsive, as obtained from mean-field theory, and attractive. The onset of attraction depends not only on the fixed charge density of the rod, but also on its radius. The attractive force is found to be due to the development of positional correlations between the counterions condensed on the two rods, for which we propose a simple analytical model. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

• OSTI ID: 477043
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 78; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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