Intrinsic viscosity of macromolecules within the generalized Rotne–Prager–Yamakawa approximation. (2nd June 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zuk, Pawel J.; Cichocki, Bogdan; Szymczak, Piotr
• Is Part Of: Journal of fluid mechanics. Volume 822(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-06-02
• Subjects: complex fluids, -- low-Reynolds-number flows, -- mathematical foundations; Fluid mechanics -- Periodicals; 532.005
• DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2017.264
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-1120

Abstract

Abstract : We develop a generalized Rotne–Prager–Yamakawa approximation for the dipolar components of the inverse friction matrix and use it for calculating the intrinsic viscosity of rigidly connected bead conglomerates. Such bead models are commonly used in the calculation of hydrodynamic properties of macromolecules. We consider both the case of non-overlapping constituent beads as well as overlapping beads of different sizes. We demonstrate the accuracy of the approximation in two test cases and show that it performs well even if the distances between the beads are small or if the beads overlap. Robust performance of this approximation in the case of overlapping beads stems from its correct limiting behaviour at a complete overlap, with one sphere fully immersed in the other. The generalized Rotne–Prager–Yamakawa approximation is thus well suited for evaluation of intrinsic viscosity, which is a key quantity in characterizing molecular conformations of biological macromolecules.