Related papers: Modifying Fragility and Collective Motion in Polym…
We investigate the impact of the addition of nanoparticles (NP) on the fragility of a model glass-forming polymer melt by molecular dynamics simulations. We find significant changes in fragility for nanoparticle volume fractions $\phi$…
We have connected the dynamic fragility, namely the rapidity of the relaxation time increase upon temperature reduction, to the excess entropy and heat capacity of a large number of glass-forming polymers. The connection was obtained in a…
We present a molecular dynamics study of the influence of knot complexity and molecular mass on glass formation upon cooling in knotted ring polymer melts. We find that cooperative motion, rigidity, and glassy dynamics can be tuned over a…
A large-scale molecular dynamics simulation is performed on a glass-forming Lennard-Jones mixture to determine the nature of dynamical heterogeneities which arise in this model fragile liquid. We observe that the most mobile particles…
We use molecular dynamics simulations to study a semidilute, unentangled polymer solution containing well dispersed, weakly attractive nanoparticles (NP) of size ($\sigma_N$) smaller than the polymer radius of gyration $R_g$. We find that…
Motivated by recent experimental results on glassy polymer nanoparticles, we develop a minimal theoretical framework for the glass transition in spherical confinement. This is accomplished using our cooperative-string model for supercooled…
The dynamics of many glassy systems are known to exhibit string-like hopping motions each consisting of a line of particles displacing one and other. By using molecular dynamics simulations of glassy polymers, we show that these motions…
Fragility, quantifying the rapidity of variation of relaxation times, is analysed for a series of model glass formers, which differ in the softness of their interparticle interactions. In an attempt to rationalize experimental observations…
We study the influence of the softness of the interparticle interactions on the fragility of a glass former, by considering three model binary mixture glass formers. The interaction potential between particles is a modified Lennard-Jones…
We introduce a minimal theory of glass formation based on the ideas of molecular crowding and resultant string-like cooperative rearrangement, and address the effects of free interfaces. In the bulk case, we obtain a scaling expression for…
Changes in the dynamics of supported polymer films in comparison to bulk materials involve a complex convolution of effects, such as substrate interactions, roughness and compliance, in addition to film thickness. We consider molecular…
By taking advantage of the molecular weight dependence of the glass transition of polymers and their ability to form perfectly miscible blends, we propose a way to modify the fragility of a system, from fragile to strong, keeping the same…
Physically confining polymers into nanoscale pores induces significant changes in their dynamics. Although different results on the effect of confinement on the dynamics of polymers have been reported, changes in the segmental mobility of…
We perform molecular dynamics simulations of an idealized polymer melt surrounding a nanoscopic filler particle to probe the effects of a filler on the local melt structure and dynamics. We show that the glass transition temperature $T_g$…
We uncover the dynamics of particles with Gaussian core interactions across melting in pure and disordered two-dimensional (2D) systems. Intriguing signatures of cooperative motion of particles in string-like paths are found at low…
The fragilities (Tg-normalized temperature dependence of alpha-relaxation times) of 33 glass-forming liquids and polymers are compared for isobaric, mP, and isochoric, mV, conditions. We find that the two quantities are linearly correlated,…
The effect of applied magnetic fields on the collective nonequilibrium dynamics of a strongly interacting Fe-C nanoparticle system has been investigated. It is experimentally shown that the magnetic aging diminishes to finally disappear for…
Polymer nanoparticle composites (PNC) with ultra high loading of nanoparticles (> 50%) have been shown to exhibit markedly improved strength, stiffness, and toughness simultaneously compared to the neat systems of their components. Recent…
Fragility index and cooperativity length characterizing the molecular mobility in the amorphous phase are for the first time calculated in drawn polylactide (PLA). The microstructure of the samples is investigated from wide-angle X-ray…
The phase behavior of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) nanoparticles dispersed in aqueous medium is investigated as a function of temperature using static and dynamic light scattering techniques. The diameter, d of the particles, as determined…