Related papers: Interdigitation between surface-anchored polymer c…
We consider a polymer brush grafted to a surface (acting as an electrode) and bearing a charged group at its free end. Using a second distant electrode, the brush is subject to a constant electric field. Based on a coarse-grained continuum…
We have studied biomembranes with grafted polymer chains using a coarse-grained membrane simulation, where a meshless membrane model is combined with polymer chains. We focus on the polymer-induced entropic effects on mechanical properties…
Adhesive interactions between elastic structures such as graphene sheets, carbon nanotubes, and microtubules have been shown to exhibit hysteresis due to irrecoverable energy loss associated with bond breakage, even in static…
Motivated by recent experiments showing nonlinear elasticity of in vitro networks of the biopolymer actin cross-linked with filamin, we present an effective medium theory of flexibly cross-linked stiff polymer networks. We model such…
Lattice model of directed self avoiding walk has been solved analytically to investigate adsorption desorption phase transition behaviour of a semiflexible sequential copolymer chain on a two dimensional impenetrable surface perpendicular…
Adsorption of polymers to surfaces is crucial for understanding many fundamental processes in nature. Recent experimental studies indicate that the adsorption dynamics is dominated by non-equilibrium effects. We investigate the adsorption…
We report on an experimental investigation of the interplay between friction, contact geometry and finite strains for smooth frictional contacts between rigid spherical glass probes and flat silicone substrates. Using both bulk and layered…
In this paper, we study the connectivity of a one-dimensional soft random geometric graph (RGG). The graph is generated by placing points at random on a bounded line segment and connecting pairs of points with a probability that depends on…
The mechanical integrity of composite materials depends primarily on the interface strength and the defect density of the reinforcement which is the provider of enhanced strength and stiffness. In the case of graphene/ polymer…
Cohesive zone models do not consider the lateral contraction of adhesive layers under tensile loads. The constraint of the lateral contraction by the adherents which depends on the geometry of the adhesive layer has a major influence on the…
Using a coarse-grained bead-spring model for semi-flexible macromolecules forming a polymer brush, structure and dynamics of the polymers is investigated, varying chain stiffness and grafting density. The anchoring condition for the grafted…
The structure of polymers at solid interfaces evolves over time, but the corresponding changes in their rheological properties remain poorly understood. Here, using a home-built quartz tuning fork atomic force microscope-based…
We use density functional theory to investigate adsorption of liquid mixtures on solid surfaces modified with end-grafted chains. The chains are modelled as freely joined spheres. The fluid molecules are spherical. All spherical species…
The behavior of mobile linkers connecting two semi-flexible charged polymers, such as polyvalent counterions connecting DNA or F-actin chains, is studied theoretically. The chain bending rigidity induces an effective repulsion between…
We develop a strong stretching approximation for a polymer brush made of self-avoiding polymer chains. The density profile of the brush and the distribution of the end monomer positions in stretching direction are computed and compared with…
As the thinnest conductive and elastic material, graphene is expected to play a crucial role in post-Moore era. Besides applications on electronic devices, graphene has shown great potential for nano-electromechanical systems. While…
We performed molecular dynamics simulations to study equilibrium and flow properties of a liquid in a nano-channel with confining surfaces coated with a layer of grafted semiflexible polymers. The coverage spans a wide range of grafting…
Using confocal microscopy we investigate the effect of attraction on the packing of polydisperse emulsions under gravity. We find that the distributions of neighbors, coordination number, and local packing fraction as a function of…
The two approaches to analyzing the large strain behavior of rubbery networks are phenomenologically, using strain energy functions drawn from continuum mechanics, and molecular models, which apply statistical mechanics to compute the…
We carry out molecular statics (MS) simulations to study the indentation process of Pt (111) surfaces using an indenter with the radius of 5-20 nm. The substrate and indenter surfaces are either bare or graphene-covered. Our simulations…