(354a) Keynote Lecture: Interactions Among Highly Charged Macromolecules: From Biology to Nanotechnology

Interactions among charged macromolecules – e.g. nucleic acids, peptides, proteins, micelles, carbon (and other) nanotubes – govern many natural processes (e.g. nucleic acid condensation, molecular recognition) and technological applications (e.g. nanomaterial self-assembly, therapeutic delivery, gene transfection, biosensing). In this talk, we first describe how highly charged macromolecules interact, emphasizing scenarios where strong coupling among charge balancing counterions can lead to a net attraction among like-charged molecules. We then discuss recent experiments in our lab, where like charged polymers appear to attract one another at an electrified interface under relatively weak coupling conditions. Finally, we introduce a statistical mechanical model to predict the interaction forces between like-charged polymers, and discuss implications toward biological and interfacial assembly over a range of coupling conditions.