Related papers: Force-Extension Relations for Polymers with Slidin…
We study the interplay between entropy and topological constraints for a polymer chain in which sliding rings (slip-links) enforce pair contacts between monomers. These slip-links divide a closed ring polymer into a number of sub-loops…
Cross-linked polymer networks with orientational order constitute a wide class of soft materials and are relevant to biological systems (e.g., F-actin bundles). We analytically study the nonlinear force-extension relation of an array of…
A polymer network fractures by breaking covalent bonds, but the experimentally measured strength of the polymer network is orders of magnitude lower than the strength of covalent bonds. We investigate the effect of statistical variation of…
The mechanical properties of a polymeric network containing both crosslinks and sliplinks (entanglements) are studied using a multi-chain Brownian dynamics simulation. We coarse-grain at the level of chain segments connecting consecutive…
Single-chain elasticity is of fundamental importance in polymer physics, as it underlies many of the unique properties of polymer systems. Recently, there has been interest in characterizing the elastic properties of catenanes, molecular…
We study two cross-linked polymer systems in the strong stretching regime. The first consists of two polymers sharing one endpoint, with the other two endpoints coupled by a harmonic potential. Within the weakly bending approximation, we…
The stretchability of polymeric materials is critical to many applications such as stretchable electronics and soft robotics, yet the stretchability of conventional cross-linked linear polymers is limited by the entanglements between…
Using canonical Monte Carlo simulations, we introduce a new numerical procedure for comparing the entropic exponents of polymers with different constraints and/or topologies. Setting up competitions between polymer segments which can…
We consider polymers attached to the tip of a cone, and the resulting force due to entropy loss on approaching a plate (or another cone). At separations shorter than the polymer radius of gyration R_g, the only relevant length scale is the…
We investigate the effect of knot type on the properties of a ring polymer confined to a slit. For relatively wide slits, the more complex the knot, the more the force exerted by the polymer on the walls is decreased compared to an…
We perform computer simulations of mechanically linked (poly[2]catenanes, PC) and chemically bonded (bonded rings, BR) pairs of self-avoiding ring polymers in steady shear. We find that BR's develop a novel motif, termed gradient tumbling,…
The non-equilibrium structural and dynamical properties of semiflexible polymers confined to two dimensions are investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. Three different scenarios are considered: The force-extension relation of…
Force induced stretching of polymers is important in a variety of contexts. We have used theory and simulations to describe the response of homopolymers, with $N$ monomers, to force ($f$) in good and poor solvents. In good solvents and for…
The interplay of topological constraints, excluded volume interactions, persistence length and dynamical entanglement length in solutions and melts of linear chains and ring polymers is investigated by means of kinetic Monte Carlo…
Polymers are an effective test-bed for studying topological constraints in condensed matter due to a wide array of synthetically-available chain topologies. When linear and ring polymers are blended together, emergent rheological properties…
Simulations in which a globular ring polymer with delocalized knots is separated in two interacting loops by a slipping link, or in two non-interacting globuli by a wall with a hole, show how the minimal crossing number of the knots…
The longitudinal response of single semiflexible polymers to sudden changes in externally applied forces is known to be controlled by the propagation and relaxation of backbone tension. Under many experimental circumstances, realized, e.g.,…
We study dynamics of a Rouse polymer chain, which diffuses in a three-dimensional space under the constraint that one of its ends, referred to as the slip-link, may move only along a one-dimensional line containing randomly placed,…
The statistical mechanics of a long knotted collapsed polymer is determined by a free-energy with a knot-dependent subleading term, which is linked to the length of the shortest polymer that can hold such knot. The only other parameter…
Recent measurements of the force versus extension curves in stretched single stranded DNA, under conditions where the hydrogen bonding between complementary bases is inhibited, provide a new handle for the study of self-avoiding effects in…