Related papers: Polymer brushes with reversibly tunable grafting d…
We investigate polyelectrolyte brushes in the osmotic regime using both theoretical analysis and molecular dynamics simulation techniques. In the simulations at moderate Bjerrum length, we observe that the brush height varies weakly with…
Shear responsive surfaces offer potential advances in a number of applications. Surface functionalisation using polymer brushes is one route to such properties, particularly in the case of entangled polymers. We report on neutron…
The stretching of brushes of long polymers grafted to a planar surface is investigated byMonte Carlo simulations in the limit of very high grafting densities, as achieved in recent experiments. The monomer density profiles are shown to…
The absorption of free linear chains in a polymer brush was studied with respect to chain size $L$ and compatibility $\chi$ with the brush by means of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and Density Functional Theory (DFT) / Self-Consistent Field…
The structural features of polystyrene brushes grafted on spherical silica nanoparticles immersed in polystyrene are investigated by means of a Monte Carlo methodology based on polymer mean field theory. The nanoparticle radii (either 8 nm…
We determine the distribution of free ends and the monomer insertion potential in the strongly-stretched limit for regularly and statistically branched polymer brushes. We find that the end density flattens in the limit of very strong…
Planar brushes of flexible, semiflexible and rodlike diblock polyampholytes are studied using molecular dynamics simulations and scaling analysis in a wide range of the grafting density. Simulations show linear dependence of the average…
A comparative simulation study of polymer brushes formed by grafting at a planar surface either flexible linear polymers (chain length $N_L$) or (non-catenated) ring polymers (chain length $N_R=2 N_L$) is presented. Two distinct off-lattice…
We study the Brownian dynamics of flexible and semiflexible polymer chains densely grafted on a flat substrate, upon rapid quenching of the system when the quality of solvent becomes poor and chains attempt collapse into a globular state.…
We consider a polymer brush grafted to a surface (acting as an electrode) and bearing a charged group at its free end. Using a second distant electrode, the brush is subject to a constant electric field. Based on a coarse-grained continuum…
Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the shear thinning behavior of immiscible symmetric polymer blends. The phase separated polymers are subjected to a simple shear flow imposed by moving a wall parallel to the…
Bottle brushes are polymeric macromolecules made of a linear polymeric backbone grafted with side chains. The choice of the grafting density {\sigma}g, the length ns the grafted side chains and their chemical nature fully determines the…
Charged polymer brushes are layers of surface-tethered chains. Experimental systems are frequently strongly charged. Here we calculate phase diagrams for such brushes in terms of salt concentration n_s, grafting density and polymer backbone…
Non equilibrium coarse grained, dissipative particle dynamics simulations of complex fluids, made up of polymer brushes tethered to planar surfaces immersed in a solvent yield non monotonic behavior of the friction coefficient as a function…
Control of frictional interactions among liquid-suspended particles has led to tunable, strikingly non-Newtonian rheology via the formation of strong flow constraints as particles come into close proximity under shear. Typically, these…
Self-consistent field approach is used to model a single end-tethered polymer chain on a substrate subject to various forces in three dimensions. Starting from a continuous Gaussian chain model, the following perturbations are considered:…
We study the influence of chain stiffness on droplet flow in a nano-channel, coated with semiflexible hydrophobic polymers by means of non-equilibrium molecular-dynamics simulations. The studied system is then a moving droplet in the slit…
Neutral or charged polymers that are densely end-grafted to surfaces form brush-like structures and are highly stretched under good-solvent conditions. We discuss and compare relevant results from scaling models, self-consistent-field…
We probe, using the Surface Forces Apparatus, the thermal response of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) brushes of various grafting densities, grown from plasma-activated mica by means of surface-initiated polymerization. We thus show…
Polymer brushes are increasingly used to tailor surface physicochemistry for various applications such as wetting, adhesion of biological objects, implantable devices, etc. We perform Dissipative Particle Dynamics simulations to study the…