Related papers: A Quantitative Theory of Mechanical Unfolding of a…
We propose the quantitative mean-field theory of mechanical unfolding of a globule formed by long flexible homopolymer chain collapsed in poor solvent and subjected to an extensional force We show that with an increase in the applied force…
We present results of numerical self-consistent field (SCF) calculations for the equilibrium mechanical unfolding of a globule formed by a single flexible polymer chain collapsed in a poor solvent. In accordance with earlier scaling theory…
Equilibrium mechanical unfolding of a globule formed by long flexible homopolymer chain collapsed in a poor solvent and subjected to an extensional force f (force-clamp mode) or extensional deformation D (position-clamp mode) is studied…
We present a scaling theory describing the collapse of a homopolymer chain in poor solvent. At time t after the beginning of the collapse, the original Gaussian chain of length N is streamlined to form N/g segments of length R(t), each…
We investigate the internal structure of a polymer during collapse from an expanded coil to a compact globule. Collapse is more probable in local regions of high curvature, so a smoothing of the fractal polymer structure occurs that…
We present an analytical theory for heteropolymer deformation, as exemplified experimentally by stretching of single protein molecules. Using a mean-field replica theory, we determine phase diagrams for stress-induced unfolding of typical…
We investigate the dynamics and the pathways of the collapse of a single, semiflexible polymer in a poor solvent via 3-D Brownian Dynamics simulations. Earlier work indicates that the condensation of semiflexible polymers generically…
We investigate, using numerical simulations and analytical arguments, a simple one dimensional model for the swelling or the collapse of a closed polymer chain of size N, representing the dynamical evolution of a polymer in a \Theta-solvent…
In this paper we study the unfolding transition observed in polymer stretching experiments. We use a known model and extend it with a mean-field-like interaction. Expressions for all necessary thermodynamic variables as a function of the…
We present a statistical model of a dilute polymer solution in good solvent in the presence of low-molecular weight cosolvent. We investigate the conformational changes of the polymer induced by a change of the cosolvent concentration and…
A self consistent field theory for compressible polymer mixtures is developed by introducing elements of classical density functional theory into the framework of the Helfand theory. It is then applied to study free surfaces of binary (A,B)…
We propose a simple mean-field theory for the structure of ring polymer melts. By combining the notion of topological volume fraction and a classical van der Waals theory of fluids, we take into account many body effects of topological…
We present an application of Flory-type self-consistent field theory of the flexible polymer chain dissolved in the binary mixture of solvents to theoretical description of co-nonsolvency. We show that our theoretical predictions are in…
We theoretically investigate the kinetics of the folding transition of a single semiflexible polymer. In the folding transition, the growth rate decrease with an increase in the number of monomers in a collapsed domain, suggesting that the…
The rapid collapse of a polymer, due to external forces or changes in solvent, yields a long-lived `crumpled globule.' The conjectured fractal structure shaped by hierarchical collapse dynamics has proved difficult to establish, even with…
We present a systematic statistical mechanical analysis of the conformational properties of a stiff polyelectrolyte chain with intrachain attractions that are due to counterion correlations. We show that the mean-field solution corresponds…
A statistical mechanical description of flexible and semi-flexible polymer chains in a poor solvent is developed in the constant force and constant distance ensembles. We predict the existence of many intermediate states at low temperatures…
We propose a continuum theory to model the Mullins effect, which is ubiquitously observed in polymer composites. In the theory, the softening of the materials during the stretching process is accounted for by considering the delamination of…
Homopolymer chain with beads forming pairwise reversible bonds is a well-known model in polymer physics. We studied kinetics of homopolymer chain collapse, which was induced by pairwise reversible bonds formation. We compared kinetic…
Recent developments of microscopic mechanical experiments allow the manipulation of individual polymer molecules in two main ways: \textit{uniform} stretching by external forces and \textit{non-uniform} stretching by external fields. Many…