Related papers: Polymer brushes with reversibly tunable grafting d…
Inwardly curved polymer brushes are present in cylindrical and spherical micelles or in membranes tubes and vesicles decorated with anchored polymers, and influence their stability. We consider such polymer brushes in good solvent and show…
We use the worm-like chain model to analytically calculate the linear response of a grafted semiflexible polymer to a uniform force field. The result is a function of the bending stiffness, the temperature, the total contour length, and the…
Mixtures of nanoparticles and polymer-like objects are encountered in many nanotechnological applications and biological systems. We study the behavior of grafted polymer layers decorated by nanoparticles that are attracted to the polymers…
The results obtained from molecular dynamics simulations of the friction at an interface between polymer melts and weakly attractive crystalline surfaces are reported. We consider a coarse-grained bead-spring model of linear chains with…
The interactions between spherical colloids covered with end-grafted polymers (brushes) immersed in a polymer melt are studied theoretically. We show that attractive enthalpic interactions between the two polymer species, characterized by a…
Polymer brushes can grow on almost any solid surface, and by design, exhibit diverse properties and functionalities, thus they have been widely used in many emerging applications in engineering, energy, and medicine. In particular, some…
The compressive strength of unidirectional fiber composites in the form of Kevlar yarn with a thin outer layer of graphene was investigated and modeled. Such fiber structure may be fabricated by using a strong chemical bond between Kevlar…
We describe a microscope-based optical setup that allows us to perform space-and time-resolved measurements of the spectral reflectance of transparent substrates coated with ultrathin films. This technique is applied to investigate the…
A coarse-grained model to describe the lateral structure of a one-component polymer brush is presented. In this model, a single polymer chain is described by just two coordinates, namely the position of the grafted monomer, and the monomer…
Polymer brush layers are responsive materials that swell in contact with good solvents and their vapors. We deposit drops of an almost completely wetting volatile oil onto an oleophilic polymer brush layer and follow the response of the…
We investigate asymptotic properties of long polymers grafted to convex cylindrical and spherical surfaces, and, in particular, distribution of chain free ends. The parabolic potential profile, predicted for flat and concave brushes, fails…
Designable media can control properties of nanocomposite materials by spatially organizing nanoparticles. Here we theoretically study particle organization by ultrathin polymer films of grafted chains (``brushes''). Polymer-soluble…
Polymer brushes and grafted polymers have attracted significant interest at the intersection of polymers, interfacial chemistry, colloidal science, and nanostructuring. The confinement of high-density grafted polymers and differences in…
We study the friction between a flat solid surface where polymer chains have been end-grafted and a cross-linked elastomer at low sliding velocity. The contribution of isolated grafted chains' penetration in the sliding elastomer has been…
Chain-like macromolecules (polymers) show characteristic adsorption properties due to their flexibility and internal degrees of freedom, when attracted to surfaces and interfaces. In this review we discuss concepts and features that are…
We analyze the structural behavior of a single polymer chain grafted to an attractive, flexible surface. Our model is composed of a coarse-grained bead-and-spring polymer and a tethered membrane. By means of extensive parallel tempering…
The unique atomic monolayer structure of graphene gives rise to a broad range of remarkable mechanical folding properties. However, significant challenges remain in effectively harnessing them in a controllable and scalable manner. In this…
We investigate the effect of mobile polymer brushes on proteins embedded in biological membranes by employing both Asakura-Oosawa type of theoretical model and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. The brush polymer-induced…
The rheological behavior of polymer melts is strongly influenced by parameters such as chain length, chain stiffness, and architecture. In particular, shear thinning, characterized by a power-law decrease in shear viscosity with increasing…
The dynamics of a single chain tethered to an interface and in contact with a cross-linked network is examined numerically. When the network is put in contact with the tethered chain, the chain moves with dynamics that are highly…