Conformational properties of poor solvent polyelectrolytes Original Research Article

We present recent simulations on charged polymers in poor solvent in the dilute concentration range, with and without imposed extension constraints. The resulting pearl-necklace polymer conformations are analyzed in detail. We find strong pearl number and size fluctuations leading only to minimal signatures in the form factor and the force-extension relation. We see no sign of instability of the pearl-necklaces due to counterion condensation.