Related papers: Crystallization of a polymer on a surface
Within the framework of density functional theory (DFT), the total energy of crystal structures is calculated at zero temperature. Herein, we briefly discuss the DFT-based lattice-dynamics approach for computing crystal free energy, the…
The properties of the interface between solid and melt are key to solidification and melting, as the interfacial free energy introduces a kinetic barrier to phase transitions. This makes solidification happen below the melting temperature,…
We focus on polymer-grafted nanoparticles (PGNP). A PGNP is composed of two different layers: the hard core of a nanoparticle and the soft corona of grafted polymers on the surface. It is predicted that PGNPs with these two distinct layers…
We develop a theory describing density profile of the semi-flexible polymers absorbed onto a planar surface. The theoretical analysis consists of two parts. As a first part, we calculate a density profile of the adsorbed polymers by…
Almost all the polymer crystals have several polymorphic modifications. Their structure and existence conditions, as well as transitions between them are not understood even in the case of the 'model' polymer polyethylene (PE). For analysis…
We define a lattice model for the interaction of a polymer with water. We solve the model in a suitable approximation. In the case of a non-polar homopolymer, for reasonable values of the parameters, the polymer is found in a non-compact…
This work addresses the question of whether it is possible to define simple pair-wise interaction terms to approximate free energies of proteins or polymers. Rather than ask how reliable a potential of mean force is, one can ask how…
We present two-dimensional crystallization results in the square lattice for finite particle systems consisting of two different atomic types. We identify energy minimizers of configurational energies featuring two-body short-ranged…
We study the nucleation of crystalline cluster phases in the generalized exponential model with exponent n=4. Due to the finite value of this pair potential for zero separation, at high densities the system forms cluster crystals with…
We study the model of a partially directed flexible or semi-flexible homopolymer on a square lattice, subject to an externally applied force, in a direction either parallel to, or perpendicular to the preferred direction. The polymer is…
We investigate connections between the continuum and atomistic descriptions of deformable crystals, using certain interesting results from number theory. The energy of a deformed crystal is calculated in the context of a lattice model with…
A ring polymer in a confining space may exhibit at least two phases, namely an expanded (or solvent-rich phase) if its concentration is small, or a collapsed (or polymer-rich phase) when it is concentrated and compressed. These phases are…
Semiflexible polymers in poor solvents exhibit a rich variety of collapsed morphologies, including globules, toroids, and rodlike bundles, arising from the competition between attractive interactions and chain stiffness. Computer…
Temperature changes during the growth of lamellar polymer crystals give rise to steps on the surface of the crystals. It has recently been suggested that these steps could provide important insights into the mechanism of polymer…
We investigate the formation of polycrystalline structures in a class of particle systems. The atomistic energy is modeled as a sum of particle energies that favor atoms being locally isometric to a reference lattice. The discrete frame…
A physics-based analytical model describing the phase transition from crystalline to conformationally disordered (condis) crystalline phase is developed. In the model, the free energy is written as a function of temperature and the lattice…
A free-energy functional that contains both the symmetry conserved and symmetry broken parts of the direct pair correlation function has been used to investigate the freezing of a system of hard spheres into crystalline and amorphous…
We study the possibility of the spinodal decomposition in the induction period of the polymer crystallization. This phenomenon was first reported in an X-ray scattering experiment, and has still been controversial due to various experiments…
Polymer blends offer an exciting material for various potential applications due to their tunable properties by varying constituting components and their relative composition. Our simulation results unravel an intrinsic relationship between…
Spatial distributions are presented that quantitatively capture how polymer properties (e.g., segment alignment, density, and potential energy) vary with distance from nascent polymer crystals (nuclei) in prototypical polyethylene melts. It…