Conformation of a Polyelectrolyte Complexed to a Like-Charged Colloid
Preprint
- 19 November 2001
Abstract
We report results from a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation on the conformations of a long flexible polyelectrolyte complexed to a charged sphere, \textit{both negatively charged}, in the presence of neutralizing counterions in the strong Coulomb coupling regime. The structure of this complex is very sensitive to the charge density of the polyelectrolyte. For a fully charged polyelectrolyte the polymer forms a dense two-dimensional "disk", whereas for a partially charged polyelectrolyte the monomers are spread over the colloidal surface. A mechanism involving the \textit{overcharging} of the polyelectrolyte by counterions is proposed to explain the observed conformations.Keywords
All Related Versions
- Version 1, 2001-11-19, ArXiv
- Published version: Physical Review E, 65 (4), 041805.
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