title: Effect of counterions on the Rayleigh-Plateau instability of a charged cylinder.
abstract: The effect of counterions on the instability of a charged cylinder is investigated. Both axisymmetric and asymmetric perturbations are considered. The analysis shows that the Rayleigh-Plateau instability is modified for a charged cylinder in the presence of counterions. For the axisymmetric instability, the counterions have a stabilizing effect at low values of kappa, the inverse Debye layer thickness. However, the effect is destabilizing at higher values of kappa . The asymmetric modes which are stable for an uncharged cylinder are rendered unstable at high values of kappa . The analysis should be important in pearling instability of charged cylindrical vesicles. The expression for the correlation time of thermally induced shape fluctuations of charged cylindrical vesicles is also derived.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, 400076, Bombay, Mumbai, India. rochish@che.iitb.ac.in
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Thaokar
mesh_terms: D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D013500:Surface Tension; D013696:Temperature; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D004573:Electrolytes; D008051:Lipid Bilayers