Related papers: Entropically driven transition to a liquid-crystal…
Configurations of a single semiflexible polymer is studied when it is pushed into a nanochannel in the case where the polymer persistence length $l_p$ is much longer than the channel diameter $D$, i.e. $l_p/D \gg 1$. Using numerical…
A simple model of a polymer with long rigid segments which interact via excluded volume repulsions and short ranged attractions is proposed. The coil-globule transition of this model polymer is strongly first order, the globule is…
Under an electric field, chiral smectic liquid crystals transit usually to the unwound SmC* phase where the helical structure is completely unrolled. Sometimes the sample transits initially towards an intermediate polar state before the…
Computer simulations are presented of the isotropic-to-nematic transition in a liquid crystal confined between two parallel plates a distance H apart. The plates are neutral and do not impose any anchoring on the particles. Depending on the…
Non-equilibrium transport of particles embedded in a liquid crystal host can, by cooling through a phase transition, be exploited to create a remarkable variety of structures including shells, foams, and gels. Due to the complexity of the…
We investigate a lattice model of polymers where the nearest-neighbour monomer-monomer interaction strengths differ according to whether the local configurations have so-called ``hydrogen-like'' formations or not. If the interaction…
We study numerically a lattice model of semiflexible homopolymers with nearest neighbor attraction and energetic preference for straight joints between bonded monomers. For this we use a new algorithm, the "Pruned-Enriched Rosenbluth…
This thesis can be divided into two independent parts. In the first part of this thesis, we focus on studying the kinetic pathways of nucleation in colloidal systems. In Chapter 2, we briefly introduce the relevant theory of nucleation,…
We consider the micellization of block copolymers in solution, employing self consistent field theory with an additional constraint that permits the examination of intermediate structures. From the information for an isolated micelle…
The problem of the helix-coil transition of biopolymers in explicit solvents, like water, with the ability for hydrogen bonding with solvent is addressed analytically using a suitably modified version of the Generalized Model of Polypeptide…
Block copolymer melts self-assemble in the bulk into a variety of nanostructures, making them perfect candidates to template the position of nanoparticles. The morphological changes of block copolymers are studied in the presence of a…
A lattice model of a hetero-polymer with random hydrophilic-hydrophobic charges interacting with the solvent is introduced, whose continnuum counterpart has been proposed by T. Garel, L. Leibler and H. Orland {J. Phys. II France 4, 2139…
We study the dynamical evolution of strongly coupled field theories, initially in thermal equilibrium, under the influence of an external driving force. We model the field theory holographically using classical gravitational dynamics in an…
We report the formation of colloidal complexes resulting from the electrostatic co-assembly between anionic surfactants and cationic polyelectrolytes or block copolymers. Combining light and x-ray scattering experiments with cryogenic…
The authors study the short-time dynamics of helix-forming polypeptide chains using an all-atom representation of the molecules and an implicit solvation model to approximate the interaction with the surrounding solvent. The results confirm…
Conformations of a single semiflexible polymer chain dissolved in a low molecular weight liquid crystalline solvents (nematogens) are examined by using a mean field theory. We takes into account a stiffness and partial orientational…
In this work, the nonequilibrium pathways of the collapse of the helix-forming biopolymer polyalanine are investigated. To this end, the full time evolution of the helix-coil transition is simulated using molecular dynamics simulations. At…
Helices are not generic outcomes of polymer collapse. Collapsed conformations of semiflexible polymers with isotropic attractions typically form globules, toroids, or rod-like structures, as seen in simulations and described by…
Within self-consistent field theory we study the phase behaviour of a symmetric binary AB polymer blend confined into a thin film. The film surfaces interact with the monomers via short range potentials. One surface attracts the A component…
Solid-solid collapse transition in open framework structures is ubiquitous in nature. The real difficulty in understanding detailed microscopic aspects of such transitions in molecular systems arises from the interplay between different…