https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2009-10540-5
Regular Article
Transverse polarizability of an aligned assembly of charged rods
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, 610 Taylor Road, 08854-8087, Piscataway, NJ, USA
* e-mail: jerrymanning@rcn.com
Received:
27
July
2009
Accepted:
6
November
2009
Published online:
3
December
2009
The low-field transverse polarizability of the counterions condensed on an isolated charged rod is small. We show that it can be much larger if the rod is a member of an assembly of aligned rods. The polarization free energy of the assembly of rods in a transverse field is then similar to its polarization free energy in a field parallel to the rods. The polarization free energy of the assembly in a transverse field becomes lower than in a parallel field if the extent of the assembly (as measured, for example, by the diameter of a cylindrical assembly) is larger than the length of the individual rods. We suggest that this model may provide a reasonable explanation for the occurrence of “anomalous” birefringence in systems of interacting charged rodlike particles.
© EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2009