• Macromolecular Research
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.393-397
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• 2003

By applying a configurational-bias Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo algorithm, priority simulation results regarding the conformation of non-dilute polyelectrolytes in solvents are obtained. Solutions of freely-jointed chains are considered, and a new method termed strandwise configurational-bias sampling is developed so as to effectively overcome a difficulty on the transfer of polymer chains. The structure factors of polyelectrolytes in the bulk as well as in the confined space are estimated with variations of the polymer charge density.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.207-215
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• 2002

The hindered diffusion in confined spaces is an important phenomenon to understand in a micro-scale the filtration mechanism determined by the particle motion in membrane pores. Compared to the case of spherical colloids, both the theoretical investigations and the experiments on the hindered diffusion of polyelectrolytes is actually more difficult, due to lots of relevant parameters resulting from the complicated conformational properties of the polyelectrolyte chain. We have successfully performed the Brownian dynamics simulations upon a single polyeiectrolyte confined in a slit-like pore, where a coarse-grained bead-spring model incorporated with Debye-Huckel interaction is properly adopted. For the given sizes of both the polyelectrolyte and the pore width, the hindered diffusion coefficient decreases as the solution ionic concentration decreases. It is evident that a charge effect of the pore wall enhances the hindered diffusion of polyelectrolyte. Simulation results allow us to make sense of the diffusive transport through the micro-pore, which is restricted by the influences of the steric hindrance of polyelectrolytes as well as the electrostatic repulsion between the polyelectrolytes and pore wall.