Flexible polyelectrolytes with monovalent salt

We present a model for describing flexible polyelectrolytes in a good solvent and in the presence of monovalent salt. The molecule composed by N monomers is characterized by the end-to-end distance Re=b(Z-1)γ and the number of associated counterions n. At high temperatures the polyelectrolyte behaves as a neutral polymer (γ=0.588). Decreasing the temperature, the macromolecule changes from this extended configuration (γ=0.588) to a stretched form (γ≈1). At even lower temperatures, above the Manning condensation threshold, the polyelectrolyte collapses (γ≈0.3). Our results show good agreement with simulations.