Explicit vs Implicit Water Simulations of Charged Dendrimers

Author(s)
Sebastian Huißmann, Christos Likos, Ronald Blaak
Abstract

Charged dendrimers with terminal or full charge of the nodes, single- or double-spacer, are simulated and a comparison is made between implicit and explicit water results. The main conclusion is that modeling the solvent with a continuum (dielectric constant epsilon(r) = 80) and ignoring its discrete nature results into a surprisingly accurate description of their properties. Sizes, density profiles and spacer dependence are reproduced within 10% at most. The counterion intake is overestimated by the implicit water model because in reality water intrudes all the way to the center and locally expels some counterions. The amount of water absorbed increases rapidly with charging the dendrimer.

Organisation(s)
Computational and Soft Matter Physics
Journal
Macromolecules
Volume
45
Pages
2562-2569
No. of pages
8
ISSN
0024-9297
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/ma202520d
Publication date
2012
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103023 Polymer physics, 103036 Theoretical physics, 103015 Condensed matter, 103029 Statistical physics
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/5b7cc051-f995-4218-b542-ebe21311dc3e