Anisotropic DLVO-like interaction for charge patchiness in colloids and proteins

Gnidovec, Andraž (author), Locatelli, Emanuele (author), Čopar, Simon (author), Rapoš Božič, Anže (author), Bianchi, Emanuela (author)

The behaviour and stability of soft and biological matter depend significantly on electrostatic interactions, as particles such as proteins and colloids acquire a charge when dispersed in an electrolytic solution. A typical simplification used to understand bulk phenomena involving electrostatic interactions is the isotropy of the charge on the particles. However, whether arising naturally or by synthesis, charge distributions are often inhomogeneous, leading to an intricate particle-particle interaction landscape and complex assembly phenomena. The fundamental complexity of these interactions gives rise to models based on distinct assumptions and varying degrees of simplifications which can blur the line between genuine physical behaviour and artefacts arising from the choice of a particular electrostatic model. Building upon the widely-used linearized Poisson-Boltzmann theory, we propose a theoretical framework that – by bridging different models – provides a robust DLVO-like description of electrostatic interactions between inhomogeneously charged particles. By matching solely the single-particle properties of two different mean-field models, we find a quantitative agreement between the pair interaction energies over a wide range of system parameters. Our work identifies a strategy to merge different models of inhomogeneously charged particles and paves the way to a reliable, accurate, and computationally affordable description of their interactions.

• Language: English
• Keywords: biological physics, electrostatic interactions
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FMF - Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 9 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 16, art. no. ǂ4277
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-169062
• UDC: 577.3:537.2
• ISSN on article: 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58991-0
• COBISS.SI-ID: 235331331
• Publication date in RUL: 09.05.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Nature communications
• Shortened title: Nat. commun.
• Publisher: Springer Nature
• ISSN: 2041-1723
• COBISS.SI-ID: 2315876

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: biofizika, elektrostatske interakcije