Related papers: Solvent-Induced Negative Energetic Elasticity in a…
We discuss a class of models for particulate gels in which the particle contacts are described by an effective interaction combining a two-body attraction and a three-body angular repulsion. Using molecular dynamics, we show how varying the…
We study the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) in thermoresponsive polymer solutions by means of a coarse grained single polymer chain simulation and a theoretical approach. The simulation model includes solvent explicitly and thus…
We propose a novel one-dimensional simple model without disorder exhibiting slow dynamics and aging at the zero temperature limit. This slow dynamics is due to entropic barriers. We exactly solve the statics of the model. We derive an…
Statistical mechanics is an important tool for understanding polymer electroelasticity because the elasticity of polymers is primarily due to entropy. However, a common approach for the statistical mechanics of polymer chains, the Gaussian…
Thermodynamic behavior of polymer chains out of equilibrium is a fundamental problem in both polymer physics and biological physics. By using molecular dynamics simulation, we discover a general non-equilibrium mechanism that controls the…
Polymer entanglements lead to complicated topological constraints and interactions between neighbouring chains in a dense solution or melt. Entanglements can be treated in a mean field approach, within the famous reptation model, since they…
In this third and final paper of a series, elastic properties of numerically simulated isotropic packings of spherical beads assembled by different procedures and subjected to a varying confining pressure P are investigated. In addition P,…
Nematic elastomers and glasses deform spontaneously when subjected to temperature changes. This property can be exploited in the design of heterogeneously patterned thin sheets that deform into a non-trivial shape when heated or cooled. In…
The elastic response in polymeric gels is studied by means of a percolation dynamic model. By numerical simulations the fluctuations in the gyration radius and in the center of mass motion of the percolating cluster are determined. Their…
Minute amount of long chain flexible polymer dissolved in a turbulent flow can drastically change flow properties, such as reducing the drag and enhancing mixing. One fundamental riddle is how these polymer additives interact with the…
The internal dynamics of active gels, both in artificial (in-vitro) model systems and inside the cytoskeleton of living cells, has been extensively studied by experiments of recent years. These dynamics are probed using tracer particles…
The thermodynamics and dynamics of supercooled liquids correlate with their elasticity. In particular for covalent networks, the jump of specific heat is small and the liquid is {\it strong} near the threshold valence where the network…
A quasistatic model for a horizontally loaded thin elastic composite at small strains is studied. The composite consists of two adjacent plates whose interface behaves in a cohesive fashion with respect to the slip of the two layers. We…
It has been established that the entangled polymer dynamics can be reasonably described by single chain models such as tube and slip-link models. Although the entanglement effect is a result of the hard-core interaction between chains,…
This work investigates the effects of tangent polar activity on the conformational and dynamic properties of entangled polymer melts through Langevin molecular dynamics simulations. We examine systems composed of all self-propelled,…
Prudent walks are self-avoiding walks which cannot step towards an already occupied vertex. We introduce a new model of adsorbing prudent walks on the square lattice, which start on an impenetrable surface and accrue a fugacity $a$ with…
We show that non-entangled polymers display an elastic-like behaviour at a macroscopic scale (probed at some 0.100 mm thickness) up to at least hundred degrees above the glass transition temperature. This observation, found under…
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…
We present a theory for the elasticity of cross-linked stiff polymer networks. Stiff polymers, unlike their flexible counterparts, are highly anisotropic elastic objects. Similar to mechanical beams stiff polymers easily deform in bending,…
Usually, the strain-induced softening behaviour observed in the differential modulus $K(T,\gamma)$ of hydrogels has been attributed to the breakage of internal structures of the network, such as the cross-links that bind together the…