Extracting free energies of counterion binding to polyelectrolytes by molecular dynamics simulations.

Autor: Tian WD; Center for Soft Condensed Matter Physics and Interdisciplinary Research, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China., Ghasemi M; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA., Larson RG; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Journal of chemical physics [J Chem Phys] 2021 Sep 21; Vol. 155 (11), pp. 114902.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0056853
Abstrakt: We use all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to extract ΔG eff , the free energy of binding of potassium ions K + to the partially charged polyelectrolyte poly(acrylic acid), or PAA, in dilute regimes. Upon increasing the charge fraction of PAA, the chains adopt more extended conformations, and simultaneously, potassium ions bind more strongly (i.e., with more negative ΔG eff ) to the highly charged chains to relieve electrostatic repulsions between charged monomers along the chains. We compare the simulation results with the predictions of a model that describes potassium binding to PAA chains as a reversible reaction whose binding free energy (ΔG eff ) is adjusted from its intrinsic value (ΔG) by electrostatic correlations, captured by a random phase approximation. The bare or intrinsic binding free energy ΔG, which is an input in the model, depends on the binding species and is obtained from the radial distribution function of K + around the charged monomer of a singly charged, short PAA chain in dilute solutions. We find that the model yields semi-quantitative predictions for ΔG eff and the degree of potassium binding to PAA chains, α, as a function of PAA charge fraction without using fitting parameters.
Databáze: MEDLINE