Related papers: Polymer crystal-melt interfaces and nucleation in …
We report a characterization of the relative stability and structural behavior of various micellar crystals of an athermal model of AB-diblock copolymers in solution. We adopt a previously devel- oped coarse-graining representation of the…
Using molecular simulations, we shed light on the mechanism underlying crystal nucleation in metal alloys and unravel the interplay between crystal nucleation and glass transition, as the conditions of crystallization lie close to this…
The cavitation flow of linear-polymer solutions around a cylinder is studied by performing a large-scale molecular dynamics simulation. The addition of polymer chains remarkably suppresses the cavitation. The polymers are stretched into a…
In this article, we review thermal transport in polymers with different morphologies from aligned fibers to bulk amorphous states. We survey early and recent efforts in engineering polymers with high thermal conductivity by fabricating…
Brittle materials exhibit sharp dynamical fractures when meeting Griffith's criterion, whereas ductile materials blunt a sharp crack by plastic responses. Upon continuous pulling ductile materials exhibit a necking instability which is…
The nucleation of crystals in liquids is one of nature's most ubiquitous phenomena, playing an important role in areas such as climate change and the production of drugs. As the early stages of nucleation involve exceedingly small time and…
The process of homogeneous crystal nucleation has been considered in a model liquid, where the interparticle interaction is described by a short-range spherical oscillatory potential. Mechanisms of initiating structural ordering in the…
We examine nonequilibrium features of collapse behavior in model polymers with competing crystallization and glass transitions using extensive molecular dynamics simulations. By comparing to "colloidal" systems with no covalent bonds but…
Biomolecules are often very long with a definite chirality. DNA, xanthan and poly-gamma-benzyl-glutamate (PBLG) can all form columnar crystalline phases. The chirality, however, competes with the tendency for crystalline order. For chiral…
Via large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we observe the melting of a topological glass of stiff ring polymers by incorporating flexible ring polymers, along an isobaric path. As more flexible ring polymers are introduced, cluster…
We investigate polymer partitioning from polymer mixtures into nanometer size cavities by formulating an equation of state for a binary polymer mixture assuming that only one (smaller) of the two polymer components can penetrate the cavity.…
Liquid crystal elastomers are cross-linked elastomer networks with liquid crystal mesogens incorporated into the main or side chain. Polydomain liquid crystalline (nematic) elastomers exhibit unusual mechanical properties like soft…
Using the classical density functional theory of freezing and Monte Carlo computer simulations, we explore the liquid-crystalline phase behavior of hard rectangles on flat and cylindrical manifolds. Moreover, we study the effect of a static…
The presence of nanoparticles in a diblock copolymer leads to changes in the morphology and properties of the matrix and can produce highly organized hybrid materials. The resulting material properties depend not only on the polymer…
Particles added to a fluid interface can be used as a surface stabilizer in the food, oil and cosmetic industries. As an alternative to rigid particles, it is promising to consider highly deformable particles that can adapt their…
So far the problem of interface behavior upon phase transition has not yet acquired a satisfactory mathematical formulation due to a variety of the physical phenomena involved. Analytical solutions exist only for elementary problems…
In this work we use molecular simulations to examine methods of controlling mechanical properties of polymeric glass materials such as elastic moduli, mechanical heterogeneity as well as their glass transition temperature. We study filled…
Shape transformations of hairy nanoparticles under confinement are studied using molecular dynamic simulations. We discuss the behavior of these particles in slits with inert or attractive walls. We assume that only chain-wall interactions…
Elucidating the physics of a concentrated suspension of ring polymers, or of an ensemble of ring polymers in a complex environment, is an important outstanding question in polymer physics. Many of the characteristic features of these…
The thermosensitive behavior of microgel particles suspended in solvents, i.e. their temperature-dependent swelling properties, has triggered ongoing interest in industry and academia over the past forty years. The most-studied polymer is…