Poisson-Boltzmann electrostatic potential

Figure 2.5 (a) Poisson-Boltzmann electrostatic surface potential of chloroperoxidase at pH 7.0 (blue represents areas of positive charge and red, areas of negative charge) and (b) calculated charge on chloroperoxidase as a function of pH. Reprinted with permission from [51], Copyright (2007) American Chemical Society. 

Another way of calculating the electrostatic component of solvation uses the Poisson-Boltzmann equations [22, 23]. This formalism, which is also frequently applied to biological macromolecules, treats the solvent as a high-dielectric continuum, whereas the solute is considered as an array of point charges in a constant, low-dielectric medium. Changes of the potential within a medium with the dielectric constant e can be related to the charge density p according to the Poisson equation (Eq. (41)). 

If there are ions in the solution, they will try to change their location according to the electrostatic potential in the system. Their distribution can be described according to Boltzmarm. Including these effects and applying some mathematics leads to the final linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation (Eq. (43)). 

The final class of methods that we shall consider for calculating the electrostatic compone of the solvation free energy are based upon the Poisson or the Poisson-Boltzmann equatior Ihese methods have been particularly useful for investigating the electrostatic properties biological macromolecules such as proteins and DNA. The solute is treated as a body of co stant low dielectric (usually between 2 and 4), and the solvent is modelled as a continuum high dielectric. The Poisson equation relates the variation in the potential (f> within a mediu of uniform dielectric constant e to the charge density p ... 

Calculation of Electrostatic Potential by the Poisson-Boltzmann Equation... 

The polyelectrolyte chain is often assumed to be a rigid cylinder (at least locally) with a uniform surface charge distribution [33-36], On the basis of this assumption the non-linearized Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation can be used to calculate how the electrostatic potential

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In addition to the nearest-neighbor interaction, each ion experiences the electrostatic potential generated by the other ions. In the literature this has generally been equated with the macroscopic potential 0 calculated from the Poisson-Boltzmann equation. This corresponds to a mean-field approximation (vide infra), in which correlations between the ions are neglected. This approximation should be the better the low the concentrations of the ions. 

For small deviations from electroneutrality, the charge density at x is proportional to -(x)/kT9 where < is the difference of the electrostatic potential from its (constant) value when there is no charge density (the density of a species of charge z is proportional to 1 - zkT on linearizing the Boltzmann exponential). Then the Poisson equation [Eq. (44)] becomes the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation ... 

Here, b is the distance between the nearest unit charges along the cylinder (b = 0.34nm for the ssDNA and b = 0.17nm for the dsDNA), (+) and (—) are related to cations and anions, respectively, and a = rss for the ssDNA and a rds for the dsDNA. The expressions (5) and (6) have been obtained using the equations for the electrostatic potential derived in [64, 65], where a linearization of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation near the Donnan potential in the hexagonal DNA cell was implemented. 

The second term in Equation 1, , involves carrying out a Poisson-Boltzmann calculation and evaluating the exposed surface area of all atoms for all the snapshots for C, M, and L. Currently, we use Hartree-Fock (HF)/6-31G restrained electrostatic potential (RESP)13 charges and PARSE14 radii for the PB calculation within DELPHI15 and the program... 

The second term in equation (9) is the usual electrostatic term. Here vA is the valency of the unit and e is the elementary charge, and ip(z) is the electrostatic potential. This second term is the well-known contribution accounted for in the classical Poisson-Boltzmann (Gouy -Chapman) equation that describes the electric double layer. The electrostatic potential can be computed from the charge distribution, as explained below. 

Beyond the IHP is a layer of charge bound at the surface by electrostatic forces only. This layer is known as the diffuse layer, or the Gouy-Chapman layer. The innermost plane of the diffuse layer is known as the outer Helmholtz plane (OHP). The relationship between the charge in the diffuse layer, o2, the electrolyte concentration in the bulk of solution, c, and potential at the OHP, 2> can be found from solving the Poisson-Boltzmann equation with appropriate boundary conditions (for 1 1 electrolytes (13))... 

The next step is to determine the electrical charge and potential distribution in this diffuse region. This is done by using relevant electrostatic and statistical mechanical theories. For a charged planar surface, this problem was solved by Gouy (in 1910) and Chapman (in 1913) by solving the Poisson-Boltzmann equation, the so called Gouy-Chapman (G-C) model. 

The Poisson-Boltzmann equation. The slab model is based on a solution of the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation that is valid only for low electrostatic surface potentials. As... 

Rahaman and Hatton [152] developed a thermodynamic model for the prediction of the sizes of the protein filled and unfilled RMs as a function of system parameters such as ionic strength, protein charge, and size, Wq and protein concentration for both phase transfer and injection techniques. The important assumptions considered include (i) reverse micellar population is bidisperse, (ii) charge distribution is uniform, (iii) electrostatic interactions within a micelle and between a protein and micellar interface are represented by nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation, (iv) the equilibrium micellar radii are assumed to be those that minimize the system free energy, and (v) water transferred between the two phases is too small to change chemical potential. 

We can then relate the charge density, p, to the electrostatic potential nsing the one-dimensional Poisson-Boltzmann eqnation,... 

The purpose of the present chapter is to introduce some of the basic concepts essential for understanding electrostatic and electrical double-layer pheneomena that are important in problems such as the protein/ion-exchange surface pictured above. The scope of the chapter is of course considerably limited, and we restrict it to concepts such as the nature of surface charges in simple systems, the structure of the resulting electrical double layer, the derivation of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation for electrostatic potential distribution in the double layer and some of its approximate solutions, and the electrostatic interaction forces for simple geometric situations. Nonetheless, these concepts lay the foundation on which the edifice needed for more complicated problems is built. 

Alternatively, there has been a revival of Debye-Hiickel (DH) theory [196-199] which provides an expression for the free energy of the RPM based on macroscopic electrostatics. Ions j are assumed to be distributed around a central ion i according to the Boltzmann factor exp(—/ , - y.(r)), where y(r) is the mean local electrostatic potential at ion j. By linearization of the resulting Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation, one finds the Coulombic interaction to be screened by the well-known DH screening factor exp(—r0r). The ion-ion contribution to the excess free energy then reads... 

Simultaneous measurements of d and osmotic pressure provide a relation between the separation of bilayers and their mutual repulsive pressure. Measurement of the electrostatic repulsion is, in fact, a determination of the electrostatic potential midway between bilayers relative to the zero of potential in the dextran reservoir. The full nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann differential equation governing this potential has been integrated (I) from the midpoint to the bilayer surface to let us infer the surface potential. The slope of this potential at the surface gives a measure of the charge bound. 

Figure 6.10 Electrostatic double-layer force between a sphere of R = 3 /um radius and a flat surface in water containing 1 mM monovalent salt. The force was calculated using the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation and the Derjaguin approximation for constant potentials (tpi = 80 mV, ip2 = 50 mV) and for constant surface charge (i/2/Ad so that at large distances both lead to the same potential.

The ionic groups on the micellar surface and the counterions will give rise to a nonuniform electrostatic potential according to the Poisson equation. If furthermore the electrostatic effects dominate the counterion distribution the ion concentration is determined by following a Boltzmann distribution. These approximations lead to the Poisson-Boltzmann equation. 

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