Search results for "Electrostatics"

Comparative theoretical study of the Ag–MgO (100) and (110) interfaces

1999

We have calculated the atomic and electronic structures of Ag–MgO(100) and (110) interfaces using a periodic (slab) model and an ab initio Hartree–Fock approach with a posteriori electron correlation corrections. The electronic structure information includes interatomic bond populations, effective charges, and multipole moments of ions. This information is analyzed in conjunction with the interface binding energy and the equilibrium distances for both interfaces for various coverages. There are significant differences between partly covered surfaces and surfaces with several layers of metal, and these can be understood in terms of electrostatics and the electron density changes. For complet…

Calculation of the electrostatic field in a dielectric-loaded waveguide due to an arbitrary charge distribution on the dielectric layer

2016

The goal of this paper is to study the electrostatic field due to an arbitrary charge distribution on a dielectric layer in a dielectric-loaded rectangular waveguide. In order to obtain this electrostatic field, the potential due to a point charge on the dielectric layer is solved in advance. The high computational complexity of this problem requires the use of different numerical integration techniques (e.g., Filon, Gauss-Kronrod, Lobatto, …) and interpolation methods. Using the principle of superposition, the potential due to an arbitrary charge distribution on a dielectric layer is obtained by adding the individual contribution of each point charge. Finally, a numerical differentiation o…

A polar/π model of interactions explains face-to-face stacked quinoid rings: a case study of the crystal of potassium hydrogen chloranilate dihydrate

2015

International audience; The nature of interactions between face-to-face staggered stacked quinoid rings with pi-systems, observed with a short inter-ring centroid. centroid distance, is analyzed by experimental and theoretical methods. Charge density studies based on X-ray diffraction and DFT calculations, complemented by impedance spectroscopy, were employed to define the electronic and structural characteristics of the quinoid rings responsible for their interactions within the crystal packing. The crystal packing is mainly stabilized by strong electrostatic interactions between the K+ cation and the hydrogen chloranilate anion. The proximity and orientation of the stacked quinoid rings i…

Macrocyclic complexes based on [N⋯I⋯N]+ halogen bonds

2021

New 1–2 nm macrocyclic iodine(I) complexes prepared VIA a simple ligand exchange reaction manifest rigid 0.5–1 nm cavities that bind the hexafluorophosphate anion in the gas phase. The size of the cavities and the electrostatic interactions with the iodine(I) cations influence the anion binding properties of these macrocyclic complexes.

Liquid Crystal Phases in Suspensions of Charged Plate-Like Particles

2012

International audience; Anisotropic interactions in colloidal suspensions have recently emerged as a route for the design of new soft materials. Nonisotropic particles can form nematic, smectic, hexatic, and columnar liquid crystals. Although the formation of these phases is well rationalized when excluded volume is solely at play, the role of electrostatic interactions still remains unclear and even less so when particles present a charge heterogeneity, for example, clays. Here, we use Monte Carlo simulations of concentrated suspensions of charged disk-like particles to reveal the role of Coulomb interactions and charge anisotropy underlying liquid crystal formation and structures. We obse…

Impact of accumulated dust particles' charge on the photovoltaic module performance

2016

Abstract This work is focused on analysing effect of accumulated dust particles' charge on PV module performance. In the Dundee University's laboratory, dust particles have been created through epoxy powder and charged by using corona and tribo-electric charging methods by varying the charge levels of the accumulated dust particles. The PV module output has analysed for finding a relation between charge levels of the accumulated dust particles and its output voltage. Obtained experimental results have shown that charge level of accumulated dust particles on PV module's have significant impact on its output and dust particle accumulations are not associated with panel tilt angle.

2019

By using all atom molecular dynamics simulations, we studied the behavior of human DNA telomere sequences in guanine quadruplex (G4) conformation and in the presence of oxidative lesions, namely abasic sites. In particular, we evidenced that while removing one guanine base induces a significant alteration and destabilization of the involved leaflet, human telomere oligomers tend, in most cases, to maintain at least a partial quadruplex structure, eventually by replacing the empty site with undamaged guanines of different leaflets. This study shows that (i) the disruption of the quadruplex leaflets induces the release of at least one of the potassium cations embedded in the quadruplex channe…

Transfer Free Energies of Test Proteins Into Crowded Protein Solutions Have Simple Dependence on Crowder Concentration

2019

The effects of macromolecular crowding on the thermodynamic properties of test proteins are determined by the latter's transfer free energies from a dilute solution to a crowded solution. The transfer free energies in turn are determined by effective protein-crowder interactions. When these interactions are modeled at the all-atom level, the transfer free energies may defy simple predictions. Here we investigated the dependence of the transfer free energy (Δμ) on crowder concentration. We represented both the test protein and the crowder proteins atomistically, and used a general interaction potential consisting of hard-core repulsion, non-polar attraction, and solvent-screened electrostati…

Conductance and Ion Selectivity of a Mesoscopic Protein Nanopore Probed with Cysteine Scanning Mutagenesis

2005

Nanometer-scale proteinaceous pores are the basis of ion and macromolecular transport in cells and organelles. Recent studies suggest that ion channels and synthetic nanopores may prove useful in biotechnological applications. To better understand the structure-function relationship of nanopores, we are studying the ion-conducting properties of channels formed by wild-type and genetically engineered versions of Staphylococcus aureus alpha-hemolysin (alphaHL) reconstituted into planar lipid bilayer membranes. Specifically, we measured the ion selectivities and current-voltage relationships of channels formed with 24 different alphaHL point cysteine mutants before and after derivatizing the c…

Physical origin of Na+/Cl− selectivity of tight junctions between epithelial cells. Nonlocal electrostatic approach

2020

Abstract Tight junctions (TJs) of epithelial cells play a key role in regulation of the ion exchange between NaCl solutions separated by the layer of these cells. Their functioning is based on a strong difference in the permeabilities of these channels for Na+ and Cl− ion migrational fluxes owing to specific properties of the protein network inside TJs. It has been assumed in this study that this phenomenon originates from combination of two effects related to this specific TJ protein (claudin) which segments are partially located inside the TJ space. First, their ionogenic groups create a negative charge distributed inside TJs, thus inducing a difference between the Na+ and Cl− concentrati…