Physics – Condensed Matter – Soft Condensed Matter
Scientific paper
2003-01-07
Physics
Condensed Matter
Soft Condensed Matter
15 pages, 19 figures
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevE.67.021803
We study the effect of electrostatic interactions on the distribution function of the end-to-end distance of a single polyelectrolyte chain in the rodlike limit. The extent to which the radial distribution function of a polyelectrolyte is reproduced by that of a wormlike chain with an adjusted persistence length is investigated. Strong evidence is found for a universal scaling formula connecting the effective persistence length of a polyelectrolyte with its linear charge density and the Debye screening of its self-interaction. An alternative definition of the electrostatic persistence length is proposed based on matching of the maximum of the distribution with that of an effective wormlike chain, as opposed to the traditional matching of the first or the second moments of the distributions. It is shown that this definition provides a more accurate probe of the affinity of the distribution to that of the wormlike chains, as compared to the traditional definition. It is also found that the length of a polyelectrolyte segment can act as a crucial parameter in determining its elastic properties.
Golestanian Ramin
Rudnick Joseph
Zandi Roya
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