Interactions between Rigid Polyelectrolytes Mediated by Ordering and Orientation of Multivalent Nonspherical Ions in Salt Solutions

H Vahid and A Scacchi and M Sammalkorpi and T Ala-Nissila, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 130, 158202 (2023).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.158202

Multivalent ions in solutions with polyelectrolytes (PEs) induce electrostatic correlations that can drastically change ion distributions around the PEs and their mutual interactions. Using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, we show how in addition to valency, ion shape and concentration can be harnessed as tools to control rigid like- charged PE-PE interactions. We demonstrate a correlation between the orientational ordering of aspherical ions and how they mediate the effective PE-PE attraction induced by multivalency. The interaction type, strength, and range can thus be externally controlled in ionic solutions. Our results can be used as generic guidelines to tune the self-assembly of like-charged polyelectrolytes by variation of the characteristics of the ions.

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