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The crystallisation of entangled polymers from their melt is investigated using computer simulation with a coarse-grained model. Using hybrid Monte Carlo simulations enables us to probe the behaviour of long polymer chains. We identify…
We consider the two-dimensional two-component plasma, or Coulomb gas, consisting of $N$ positive and $N$ negative charges with logarithmic interaction. We introduce a suitable regularization of the interaction by smearing the charges over a…
Polymer gels are comprised of a three-dimensional, cross-linked network that can typically withstand the mechanical deformation associated with both swelling and de-swelling. Thus, gels can be designed with smart behaviors that require both…
The addition of enough non-adsorbing polymer to an otherwise stable colloidal suspension gives rise to a variety of phase behavior and kinetic arrest due to the depletion attraction induced between the colloids by the polymers. We report a…
This study presents a Eulerian theory to elucidate the molecular kinematics in polymer networks and their connection to continuum deformation, grounded in fundamental statistical physics and thermodynamics. Three key innovations are…
Using monomer-resolved Molecular Dynamics simulations and theoretical arguments based on the radial dependence of the osmotic pressure in the interior of a star, we systematically investigate the effective interactions between hard,…
Biological molecules can form hydrogen bonds between nearby residues, leading to helical secondary structures. The associated reduction of configurational entropy leads to a temperature dependence of this effect: the "helix-coil…
We visualize entanglements in polymer melts using molecular dynamics simulation. A bead at an entanglement interacts persistently for long times with the non-bonded beads (those excluding the adjacent ones in the same chain). The…
We derive effective interaction potentials between hard, spherical colloidal particles and star-branched polyelectrolytes of various functionalities and smaller size than the colloids. The effective interactions are based on a…
Molecular chirality, and the chiral symmetry breaking of resulting macroscopic phases, can be topologically imprinted and manipulated by crosslinking and swelling of polymer networks. We present a new experimental approach to…
Evaporating droplets of polymer or colloid solution may produce a glassy crust at the liquid-vapour interface, which subsequently deforms as an elastic shell. For sessile droplets, the known radial outward flow of solvent is expected to…
We explore theoretically the modifications to the interactions between charged surfaces across an ionic solution caused by the presence of dielectric polymers. Although the chains are neutral, the polymer physics and the electrostatics are…
Cells moving on a two dimensional substrate generate motion by polymerizing actin filament networks inside a flat membrane protrusion. New filaments are generated by branching off existing ones, giving rise to branched network structures.…
It is widely known that hydrogels, a class of soft materials made of a polymer chain network, are prone to fatigue failure. To understand the underlying mechanism, here we simulate polymer scission and fatigue initiation in the vicinity of…
Hybrid molecular dynamics/Monte Carlo simulations used to study melts of unentangled, thermoreversibly associating supramolecular polymers. In this first of a series of papers, we describe and validate a model that is effective in…
Ianniruberto and Marrucci developed a theory whereby entangled branched polymers behave like linear ones in fast elongational flows. In order to test such prediction, Huang et al. performed elongational measurements on star polymer melts,…
We investigate the crystal structure of classical systems of spherical particles with an embedded point dipole at T=0. The ferroelectric ground state energy is calculated using generalizations of the Ewald summation technique. Due to the…
We report that a dielectric polymer chain, constrained at both ends, sharply collapses when exposed to a high electric field. The chain collapse is driven by nonlocal dipolar interactions and anisotropic polarization of monomers, a…
Liquid-liquid crystal phase separation (LLCPS) occurs in many industrial and biological settings. To date the states of the separated condensed liquid crystals have been found to be nematic, columnar, or smectic phases. Interestingly, when…
In thin films of smectic-C liquid crystals, localized regions containing additional smectic layers form circular inclusions that carry a topological charge. Such inclusions nucleate a companion topological defect. These inclusion-defect…