Related papers: Crosslinker mobility weakens transient polymer net…
Self-healing polymers crosslinked by solely reversible bonds are intrinsically weaker than common covalently crosslinked networks. Introducing covalent crosslinks into a reversible network would improve mechanical strength. It is…
Entanglement of polymer chains is ubiquitous in elastomers, gels, and biological tissues. While the effects of chain entanglement on elasticity and viscoelasticity of polymer networks have been intensively studied, it remains elusive how…
We review the physical properties of macromolecular networks, consisting of semiflexible polymers such as actin. We start by giving a theoretical analysis of the conformational statistics and mechanical response of single filaments.…
The mechanical properties of polymer gels based on cytoskeleton proteins (e.g. actin) have been studied extensively due to their significant role in biological cell motility and in maintaining the cell's structural integrity. Microrheology…
We investigate theoretically the effect of polymer tension on the collective behavior of reversibly binding cross-links. For this purpose, we employ a model of two weakly bending wormlike chains aligned in parallel by a tensile force, with…
We use nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations to verify recent tube-model predictions that associative polymer networks exhibit broad stretch fluctuations during elongational flow. Simulations further show that these fluctuating…
The mechanical properties of a polymeric network containing both crosslinks and sliplinks (entanglements) are studied using a multi-chain Brownian dynamics simulation. We coarse-grain at the level of chain segments connecting consecutive…
Viscoelastic and thermodynamic properties of transient gels comprised of telechelic polymers are theoretically studied. We extend classical theories of transient networks so that correlations among polymer chains through the network…
Branched actin networks exert pushing forces in eukaryotic cells, and adapt their stiffness to their environment. The physical basis for their mechanics and adaptability is however not understood. Indeed, here we show that their high…
The diffusion of small molecular penetrants through polymeric materials represents an important fundamental problem, relevant to the design of materials for applications such as coatings and membranes. Polymer networks hold promise in these…
This paper extends a field-theoretical dynamical networking formalism for mesoscopic polymer dynamics to explicitly include dedicated cross-linker particles. Cross-linkers are represented within a Martin-Siggia-Rose generating functional…
Recent experimental investigations have revealed a non-Maxwellian absorption pattern in the rheological spectra of actin gels, which was interpreted in terms of transient bonds. Here we examine the consequences of reversible crosslinking on…
Transient bonds between fast linkers and slower particles are widespread in physical and biological systems. In spite of their diverse structure and function, a commonality is that the linkers diffuse on timescales much faster compared to…
Low-connectivity polymer networks were recently found to behave auxetically when subjected to small tensions, that is, their Poisson's ratio $\nu$ becomes negative. In addition, for specific state points, numerical simulations revealed that…
Computer simulations can aid in understanding how collective materials properties emerge from interactions between simple constituents. Here, we introduce a coarse-grained model that enables simulation of networks of actin filaments, myosin…
We study the effect of turnover of cross linkers, motors and filaments on the generation of a contractile stress in a network of filaments connected by passive crosslinkers and subjected to the forces exerted by molecular motors. We perform…
Crosslinked polyurethane adhesives show large deformation viscoelastic behaviour and age under the moisture influence because of their hygroscopic behaviour. The viscoelastic behaviour of the material is modelled with the micromechanical…
Semiflexible polymers such as filamentous actin play a vital role in the mechanical behavior of cells, yet the basic properties of cross-linked F-actin networks remain poorly understood. To address this issue, we have performed numerical…
We explore the effect of random permanent cross-links on a system of directed polymers confined between two planes with their end-points free to slide on them. We treat the cross-links as quenched disorder and we use a semimicroscopic…
The phase behavior of charged rods in the presence of inter-rod linkers is studied theoretically as a model for the equilibrium behavior underlying the organization of actin filaments by linker proteins in the cytoskeleton. The presence of…