Density-functional theory for the structures and thermodynamic properties of highly asymmetric electrolyte and neutral component mixtures

Simple density functional approach to adsorption of biomolecules on solid surfaces

A simple density functional approach for modeling the adsorption of biomolecules is considered. The model comprises a three-component mixture consisting of spherical and differently charged ions and chain molecules. Spherical ions can form associative bonds with selected segments of a chain. To enable the formation of bonds between chain segments and spherical ions, the statistical associating fluid theory is applied. The present theory is used to study the structure of adsorbed layers, the excess adsorption isotherms, and the capacitance of the double layer.

Mixed Macromolecular Crowding Accelerates the Refolding of Rabbit Muscle Creatine Kinase: Implications for Protein Folding in Physiological Environments

The effects of four single macromolecular crowding agents, Ficoll 70, dextran 70, polyethylene glycol (PEG) 2000, and calf thymus DNA (CT DNA), and three mixed crowding agents containing both CT DNA and polysaccharide (or PEG 2000) on the refolding of guanidine hydrochloride-denatured rabbit muscle creatine kinase (MM-CK) have been examined by activity assay. When the total concentration of the mixed crowding agent is 100 g/l, in which the weight ratio of CT DNA to Ficoll 70 is 1:9, the refolding yield of MM-CK after refolding for 3 h under these conditions increases 23% compared with that in the presence of 10 g/l CT DNA, 18% compared with 100 g/l Ficoll 70, and 19% compared with that in the absence of crowding agents. A remarkable increase in the refolding yield of MM-CK by a mixed crowding agent containing CT DNA and dextran 70 (or PEG 2000) is also observed. Further folding kinetics analyses show that these three mixed crowding agents remarkably accelerate the refolding of MM-CK, compared with single crowding agents. Aggregation of MM-CK in the presence of any of the three mixed crowding agents is less serious than that in the presence of a single crowding agent at the same concentration but more serious than that in the absence of crowding agents. Both the refolding yield and the refolding rate of MM-CK in mixtures of these agents are increased relative to the individual agents by themselves, indicating that mixed macromolecular crowding agents are more favorable to MM-CK folding and can be used to reflect the physiological environment more accurately than single crowding agents.

Density functional theory for polyelectrolytes near oppositely charged surfaces

We report a nonlocal density functional theory of polyelectrolyte solutions that faithfully accounts for both short- and long-range correlations neglected in a typical mean-field method. It is shown that for systems with strong electrostatic interactions, the long-range correlations are subdued by direct Coulomb attractions, thereby manifesting strong local excluded-volume effects. The theory has also been used to describe the influence of the polyion chain length and small ion valence on charge inversion due to the adsorption of polyelectrolytes at an oppositely charged surface.

Effect of counterion species on colloidal crystal

The effect of counterion species on the colloidal crystal structure in a dispersion was carefully investigated as a function of the degree of neutralization (alpha) by the ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering technique. The nearest neighbor interparticle distance (2D(exp)) first increased with decreasing alpha, and then decreased after passing through the maximum. This behavior was confirmed for K(+), Li(+), Ca(2+), TMA(+) (tetramethylammonium) as a counterion, and Na(+) in our previous report (Harada, T.; Matsuoka, H.; Ikeda, T.; Yamaoka, H. Langmuir 2000, 16, 1612). However, the alpha value of the maximum position (alpha(max)) largely depended on the counterion species, and it was in the order K(+) < Na(+) < TMA(+) approximately Li(+). This behavior was well characterized by the specific features of each ion: the alpha(max) map could be well superimposed in the Stokes radius-crystal ion radius relationship of counterions. The alpha(max) dependence on Stokes radius was very similar to that of the B coefficient by Jones and Dole except in the case of Ca(2+). In principle, the smaller the value for B, the smaller alpha(max), indicating that a water structure breaker such as K(+) can more easily destroy the colloidal crystal structure. In other words, the effect of the counterion species on colloidal crystal stability follows the Hofmeister series. Including Ca(2+), the relationship was linear for the alpha(max) values plotted as a function of the limiting equivalent conductivity of small ions. A counterion with larger conductivity would be a stronger breaker for the colloidal crystal structure.

Incorporation of excluded-volume correlations into Poisson-Boltzmann theory

We investigate the effect of excluded-volume interactions on the electrolyte distribution around a charged macroion. First, we introduce a criterion for determining when hard-core effects should be taken into account beyond standard mean-field Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) theory. Next, we demonstrate that several commonly proposed local-density-functional approaches for excluded-volume interactions cannot be used for this purpose. Instead, we employ a nonlocal excess free energy by using a simple constant-weight approach. We compare the ion distribution and osmotic pressure predicted by this theory with Monte Carlo simulations. They agree very well for weakly developed correlations and give the correct layering effect for stronger ones. In all investigated cases our simple weighted-density theory yields more realistic results than the standard PB approach, whereas all local density theories do not improve on the PB density profiles, but on the contrary, deviate even more from the simulation results.

Density functional theory of adsorption of mixtures of charged chain particles and spherical counterions

We propose a microscopic density functional theory to describe nonuniform ionic fluids composed of chain molecules with charged "heads" and spherical counterions. The chain molecules are modeled as freely jointed chains of hard spheres, the counterions are oppositely charged spheres of the same diameter as all segments of chain molecules. The theory is based on the approach of Yu and Wu [J. Chem. Phys. 117, 2368 (2002)] of adsorption of chain molecules and on theory of adsorption of electrolytes [O. Pizio, A. Patrykiejew, and S. Sokolowski, J. Chem. Phys. 121, 11957 (2004)]. As an application of the proposed formalism we investigate the structure and adsorption of fluids containing segments of different length in a slitlike pore.