Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol.39, No.21, 2644-2652, 2001
Scattering properties of a single semiflexible polyelectrolyte
The structure factor of a single semiflexible polyelectrolyte has been calculated as a function of chain length, intrinsic backbone stiffness, and salt concentration. Because of the insignificant coupling of the intrinsic stiffness and electrostatic persistence length, we carry out our calculations in the flexible limit. Within the variational scheme adopted here, we obtain fractal dimensions consistent with our earlier calculations of the configurational properties. As the chain length is increased, the electrostatic interaction is progressively screened, leading to the crossover regions. In the first crossover, the effective fractal dimension, D-eff, is as low as 1, and in the second crossover D-eff is 5/3, although the radius of gyration exponent is 2/5.