2001/01/18 by Martin Castelnovo, Jean‐François Joanny, Jean-Francois Joanny +2
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Electrostatics and Colloid Interactions #FOS: Physical sciences #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #Surfactants and Colloidal Systems #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0101279
18 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to EPJ-E
openalex publication_date 2001/01/18 · arxiv created 2001/04/05 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We consider the phase behavior of polymeric systems by calculating the structure factors beyond the Random Phase Approximation. The effect of this correction to the mean-field RPA structure factor is shown to be important in the case of coulombic systems. Two examples are given: simple electrolytes and mixtures of incompatible oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. In this last case, all former studies predicted an enhancement of compatibility for increasing charge densities; we also describe the complexation transition between the polyelectrolytes. We determine a phase diagram of the polyelectrolyte mixture that includes both complexation and incompatibility.