THE EFFECT OF ADDED SALT ON POLYELECTROLYTE STRUCTURE

We present results of molecular dynamics simulations of strong, flexib le polyelectrolyte chains in solution with added salt. The effect of a dded salt on the polyelectrolyte chain structure is fully treated for the first time as a function of polymer density. Systems above and bel ow the Manning condensation limit are studied. The chain structure is intimately tied to the ion density near the chain even for chains in t he counterion condensation (CC) regime. The end-to-end distance is dem onstrated to be a function of the inverse Debye screening length and t he Bjerrum length. The ion density near the polymer chain depends on t he amount of added salt, and above the condensation limit the chains s ignificantly contract due to added salt.