Related papers: Network formation and gelation in Telechelic star …
Star polymers are within the most topologically entangled macromolecules. For a star to move the current theory is that one arm must retract to the branch point. The probability of this event falls exponentially with molecular weight, and a…
Discrete mesoscale network models, in which explicitly modeled polymer chains are replaced by implicit pairwise potentials, are capable of predicting the macroscale mechanical response of polymeric materials such as elastomers and gels,…
We employ a mathematical model to analyze stress chains in thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) with a microphase-separated spherical structure composed of triblock copolymers. The model represents stress chains during uniaxial and biaxial…
Since the invention of polymer networks in the 19th century (e.g., crosslinked natural rubber by Goodyear), it has been a dogma that stiffer networks are less stretchable, a trade-off inherent to the molecular nature of polymer network…
We consider concentration dependence of rheological properties of associative telechelic polymer solutions. Experimental results for model telechelic polymer solutions show rather strong concentration dependence of rheological properties.…
Reconstituted filamentous actin networks with myosin motor proteins form active gels, in which motor proteins generate forces that drive the network far from equilibrium. This motor activity can also strongly affect the network elasticity;…
We consider conformations and intra-molecular conformational transitions in amphiphilic starlike polymers formed by diblock copolymer arms with inner hydrophobic and outer polyelectrolyte blocks. A combination of an analytical mean-field…
Adding dynamic bonds in polymer networks enables reprocessing and recycling; however the full impact of reversible bonds on dynamic network mechanics remains unclear. We build model dynamic networks and observe substantial deviations from…
Tangentially driven active polymers (TDAPs), model systems for motor-driven filaments, have been extensively studied in uniform activity fields. Here, we show that an activity gradient breaks fore-aft symmetry, generating net body forces…
We survey the linear viscoelasticity of a new type of transient network: bridged wormlike micelles, whose structure has been characterized recently [Ramos and Ligoure, (2007)]. This composite material is obtained by adding telechelic…
Nematic polymeric networks are (heat and light) activable materials, which combine the features of rubber and nematic liquid crystals. When only the stretching energy of a thin sheet of nematic polymeric network is minimized, the intrinsic…
The 2-fold degeneracy of the ground state of a quasi-one-dimensional system allows it to support topological excitations such as solitons. We study the combined effects of Coulomb interactions and confinement due to interchain coupling on…
In this thesis the formation and properties of a polymer gel on and at a surface are investigated. The gel under investigation is defined as a three-dimensional network of "phantom" macromolecules that form permanent links with one another…
We employ effective interaction potentials to study the equilibrium structure and phase behavior of highly asymmetric mixtures of star polymers. We consider in particular the influence of the addition of a component with a small number of…
Force-driven chemical reactions have emerged as an attractive platform for diverse applications in polymeric materials. However, the network topologies necessary for efficiently transducing macroscopic forces to the molecular scale are not…
Recent advances in Generalized Ensemble simulations and microcanonical analysis allowed the investigation of structural transitions in polymer models over a broad range of local bending and torsion strengths. It is reasonable to argue that…
We numerically examine the nonlinear rubber elasticity of topologically constrained polymer networks. We propose a simple and effective model based on Graessley and Pearson's topological model (GP model) for describing the topological…
Motivated by recent experiments showing that stiff biopolymer gels exhibit highly unusual negative normal elastic stresses, we develop a computational model for stiff polymer networks subject to large strains. In all cases, we find that…
Deformations of amorphous polymer networks prepared with significant concentrations of liquid crystalline mesogens have been recently reported to undergo mechanotropic phase transitions. Here, we report that these mechanotropic phase…
Large-scale magnetic fields of Ap/Bp stars are stable over long timescales and have typically simple dipolar geometries, leading to the idea of a fossil origin. These stars are also expected to have convective cores that can host strong…