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The emergence of spatially variable local dynamics, or dynamic heterogeneity, is common in multicomponent polymer systems. Although often attributed to differences in the intrinsic dynamics of each component, the molecular origin of their…
Transport of microscopic objects across biological membranes usually involves membrane deformation to enclose the object followed by detachment of the engulfed particle. However, in artificial membranes, this last topological remodelling…
We use molecular dynamics simulation to study the relationship between structure and dynamics in supercooled binary Lennard--Jones nanoparticles over a range of particle sizes. The glass transition temperature of the nanoparticles is found…
Changes in the dynamics of supported polymer films in comparison to bulk materials involve a complex convolution of effects, such as substrate interactions, roughness and compliance, in addition to film thickness. We consider molecular…
The properties of polymeric nanofibers can be tailored and enhanced by properly managing the structure of the polymeric molecules at the nanoscale. Although electrospun polymer fibers are increasingly exploited in many technological…
Hypothesis: Sample-spanning particle networks are used to induce structure and a yield stress, necessary for 3D printing of porous ceramics and paints. In capillary suspensions, a small quantity of immiscible secondary fluid is incorporated…
Trapping macromolecules in nanopits finds multifarious applications in polymer separation, filtering biomolecules etc. However, tuning the locomotion of polymers in channels of nanoscopic dimensions is greatly restricted by the comparative…
Thin liquid films on surfaces are part of our everyday life, they serve e.g. as coatings or lubricants. The stability of a thin layer is governed by interfacial forces, described by the effective interface potential, and has been subject of…
Co-assembly of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) and nanostructured polymer matrix represents an intricate interplay of enthalpic or entropic forces. Particle size largely affects the phase behavior of the nanocomposite. Theoretical studies…
High velocity impact between crystalline surfaces is important for a range of material phenomena, yet a fundamental understanding of the effect of surface structure, energetics and kinetics on the underlying thermo-mechanical response…
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…
Letting free polymers diffuse from solution into a crosslinked polymer gel is often a crucial processing step in the synthesis of multiphase polymer-based gels, e.g., core-shell microgels. Here we use coarse-grained molecular dynamics…
Single molecule probes are widely used to characterize dynamic heterogeneity in glass forming liquids, but interpreting probe dynamics remains challenging because the measured response depends on how the probe couples to its host…
Indentation is a common experimental technique to study the mechanics of polymeric materials. The main advantage of using indentation is because this provides a direct correlation between the microstructure and the small-scale mechanical…
Using a coarse-grained bead-spring model of flexible polymer chains, the structure of a polymeric nanodroplet adsorbed on a chemically decorated flat wall is investigated by means of Molecular Dynamics simulation. We consider sessile drops…
Ring polymers are prevalent in natural and engineered systems, including circular bacterial DNA, crown ethers for cation chelation, and mechanical nanoswitches. The morphology and dynamics of ring polymers are governed by the chemistry and…
We investigate the conformation, position, and dynamics of core-shell nanoparticles (CSNPs) composed of a silica core encapsulated in a cross-linked poly-N-isopropylacrylamide shell at a water-oil interface for a systematic range of core…
A cell dynamics method for domain separation of diblock copolymers (DBCPs) interacting with nanoparticles (NPs) whose diffusion coefficients depend on chain configuration is proposed for self-assembly of DBCP/NP composites. Increasing NP…
Recent development in computer processing power leads to new paradigms of how problems in many-body physics and especially polymer physics can be addressed. GPU parallel processors can be employed to generate millions of independent…
We study slow dynamics of particles moving in a matrix of immobile obstacles using molecular dynamics simulations. The glass transition point decreases drastically as the obstacle density increases. At higher obstacle densities, the…