Related papers: Polymer networks at surfaces
When moist air meets a cold surface, it creates a breath figure characterized by numerous small droplets. The central question is how the vapor flux is distributed between the growth of previously condensed drops and the nucleation of new…
Ferrogels and magnetic elastomers differentiate themselves from other materials by their unique capability of reversibly changing shape and mechanical properties under the influence of an external magnetic field. A crucial issue in the…
We study a generic model of self-assembling chains which can branch and form networks with branching points (junctions) of arbitrary functionality. The physical realizations include physical gels, wormlike micells, dipolar fluids and…
We demonstrate that graphs embedded on surfaces are a powerful and practical tool to generate, characterize and simulate networks with a broad range of properties. Remarkably, the study of topologically embedded graphs is non-restrictive…
We estimate the probability regarding polymerization of a macromolecule which is made of distinct monomers. The lattice model of the random walk has been used to mimic the conformations of an ideal chain in two and three dimensions. It has…
We study theoretically situations where competition arises between an interdiffusion process and a cross-linking chemical reaction at interfaces between pieces of the same polymer material. An example of such a situation is observable in…
Attractive colloidal gels exhibit solid-like behavior at vanishingly small fractions of solids, owing to ramified space-spanning networks that form due to particle-particle interactions. These networks give the gel its rigidity, and as the…
The function of a real network depends not only on the reliability of its own components, but is affected also by the simultaneous operation of other real networks coupled with it. Robustness of systems composed of interdependent network…
Understanding the relationship between the microscopic structure and topology of a material and its macroscopic properties is a fundamental challenge across a wide range of systems. Here, we investigate the viscoelasticity of DNA nanostar…
We present dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements of soft polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) and polyacrylamide(PA) polymer gels prepared with trapped bodies (latex spheres or maghemite nanoparticles). We show that the anomalous…
When a film of a liquid suspension of nanoparticles or a polymer solution is deposited on a surface, it may dewet from the surface and as the solvent evaporates the solute particles/polymer can be deposited on the surface in regular line…
Natural and synthetic multi-component gels display emergent properties, which implies that they are more than just the sum of their components. This warrants the investigation of the role played by inter-species interactions in shaping gel…
A formula of steady shear viscosity is derived by introducing a model to describe the dynamics of physically cross-linked network (physical gel), and successfully analyzes the shear-thickening behavior observed in HEUR aqueous solutions by…
The non-linear stress-strain relation for crosslinked polymer networks is studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Previously we demonstrated the importance of trapped entanglements in determining the elastic and relaxational…
The structural complexity of soft gels is at the origin of a versatile mechanical response that allows for large deformations, controlled elastic recovery and toughness in the same material. A limit to exploiting the potential of such…
The principles underlying protein folding remains one of Nature's puzzles with important practical consequences for Life. An approach that has gathered momentum since the late 1990's, looks at protein hetero-polymers and their folding…
We have used molecular dynamics to simulate an amorphous glassy polymer with long chains to study deformation mechanism of crazing and associated void statistics. The Van der Waals interactions and the entanglements between chains…
We investigate the crystallization of crosslinked and entangled polymers under external deformation using a coarse-grained poly(vinyl alcohol) (CG-PVA) model and molecular dynamics simulations. Following uniaxial deformation, the systems…
We perform simulations to compute the effective potential between the centers-of-mass of two polymers with reversible bonds. We investigate the influence of the topology of the unbonded precursor (linear or ring) and the specific sequence…
A mean field rate theory description of the homo- and co-polymerization of $f$-functional molecules is developed, which contains the formation of short cyclic structures inside the network. The predictions of this model are compared with…