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pubmed:abstractText |
We applied the mean-field approach to a columnar bundle assembled by the parallel arrangement of stiff polyelectrolyte rods in a salt bath. The electrostatic potential can be divided into two regions: inside the bundle for condensed counterions and outside the bundle for free small ions. To determine the distribution of condensed counterions inside the bundle, we use a local self-consistent condition that depends on the charge density, the electrostatic potential, and the net polarization. The results showed that, upon bundle formation, the electric charge of polyelectrolytes, even those inside the bundle, tends to survive in an inhomogeneous manner, and thus their width remains finite under thermal equilibrium because of the long-range effect of charge instability.
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