Related papers: Tuning polymer architecture for quasicrystal self-…
We study the structural and dynamical mechanisms of reinforcement of a polymer nanocomposite (PNC) via coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. In a regime of strong polymer-filler interactions, the stress at failure of the PNC is…
Mesogens, which are typically stiff rodlike or disklike molecules, are able to self-organize into liquid crystal (LC) phases in a certain temperature range. Such mesogens, or LC groups, can be attached to polymer chains in various…
Quasicrystals are unique materials characterized by long-range order without periodicity. They are observed in systems such as metallic alloys, soft matter, and particle simulations. Unlike periodic crystals, which are invariant under…
We investigate the formation of a two-dimensional quasicrystal in a monodisperse system, using molecular dynamics simulations of hard sphere particles interacting via a two-dimensional square-well potential. We find that more than one…
Self-assembly in natural and synthetic molecular systems can create complex aggregates or materials whose properties and functionality rises from their internal structure and molecular arrangement. The key microscopic features that control…
We combine small angle scattering experiments and simulations to investigate the internal structure and interactions of composite Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Poly(ethylene glycol) (PNIPAM-PEG) microgels. At low temperatures the…
Using a strategy that may be applied in theory or in experiments, we identify the regime in which a model binary soft matter mixture forms quasicrystals. The system is described using classical density functional theory combined with…
Two ring polymers close to each other in space may be either in a segregated phase if there is a strong repulsion between monomers in the polymers, or intermingle in a mixed phase if there is a strong attractive force between the monomers.…
We present an extremely simplified model of multiple-domains polymer stretching in an atomic force microscopy experiment. We portray each module as a binary set of contacts and decompose the system energy into a harmonic term (the…
We develop a theoretical description of the topological disentanglement occurring when torus knots reach the ends of a semi-flexible polymer under tension. These include decays into simpler knots and total unknotting. The minimal number of…
We report Monte Carlo simulations of a lattice-polymer model that can account for both polymer crystallization and liquid-liquid demixing in solutions of semiflexible homopolymers. In our model, neighboring polymer segments can have…
Polymer-coated pores play a crucial role in nucleo-cytoplasmic transport and in a number of biomimetic and nanotechnological applications. Here we present Monte Carlo and Density Functional Theory approaches to identify different collective…
The relationship between polymer topology and bulk rheology remains a key question in soft matter physics. Architecture-specific constraints (or threadings) are thought to control the dynamics of ring polymers in ring-linear blends, which…
A two-dimensional system of soft particles interacting via a two-length-scale potential is studied. Density functional theory and Brownian dynamics simulations reveal a fluid phase and two crystalline phases with different lattice spacing.…
Based upon kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of crystallization in a simple polymer model we present a new picture of the mechanism by which the thickness of lamellar polymer crystals is constrained to a value close to the minimum…
We propose an experimental protocol for using cold atoms to create and probe quantum dimer models, thereby exploring the Pauling-Anderson vision of a macroscopic collection of resonating bonds. This process can allow the study of exotic…
As a model of soft confinement for polymers, we investigated equilibrium shapes of a flexible vesicle that contains a phase-separating polymer solution. To simulate such a system, we combined the phase field theory (PFT) for the vesicle and…
Self-assembled linear structures like giant cylindrical micelles or discotic molecules in solution stacked in flexible columns are systems reminiscent of polydisperse polymer solutions.These supramolecular polymers have an equilibrium…
Scaling predictions and results from self-consistent field calculations for bottle-brush polymers with a rigid backbone and flexible side chains under good solvent conditions are summarized and their validity and applicability is assessed…
Colloidal fluids can exhibit complex phase behavior and determining phase diagrams via experiments or computer simulations can be laborious. We demonstrate that the dispersion relation $\omega(k)$, obtained from dynamical density functional…