Multiphase Coacervates Driven by Electrostatic Correlations

The liquid-liquid phase separation of a polyelectrolyte solution containing one type of negatively and two types of positively charged polymers with different charge densities is studied theoretically by random phase approximation (RPA). It is predicted that multicoacervate phases could coexist, driven purely by electrostatic correlations. The asymmetry of the linear charge density could induce an effective immiscibility between two positively …