Polyelectrolyte association and solvation.

ABSTRACT: There has been significant interest in the tendency of highly charged particles having the same charge to form dynamic clusters in solution, but an accepted theoretical framework that can account for this ubiquitous phenomenon has been slow to develop. The theoretical difficulties are especially great for flexible polyelectrolytes due to the additional complex coupling between the polyelectrolyte chain configurations and the spatial distribution of the ionic species in solution. For highly charged polyelectrolytes, this leads to the formation of a diffuse "polarizable" cloud of counter-ions around these polymers, an effect having significant implications for the function of proteins and other natural occurring polyelectrolytes, as emphasized long ago by Kirkwood and co-workers. To investig

SUBMITTER: Chremos A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6217855 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature