Related papers: Formation of polymer brushes
In drying liquid films of polymer-colloid mixtures, the stratification in which polymers are placed on top of larger colloids is studied. It is often presumed that the formation of segregated polymer-colloid layers is solely due to the…
The mechanical properties of a disordered heterogeneous medium depend, in general, on a complex interplay between multiple length scales. Connecting local interactions to macroscopic observables, such as stiffness or fracture, is thus…
We consider the stochastic evolution of a (1 + 1)-dimensional polymer in the depinned regime. At equilibrium the system exhibits a double well structure: the polymer lies(essentially) either above or below the repulsive line. As a…
Polymer brushes normally swell in a good solvent and collapse in a poor solvent. An abnormal response of polymer brushes, so-called co-nonsolvency, is the phenomenon where the brush counter-intuitively collapses in a good solvent mixture.…
We report on the formation of colloidal complexes resulting from the electrostatic self-assembly of polyelectrolyte-neutral block copolymers and oppositely charged surfactants. The copolymers investigated are asymmetric and characterized by…
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…
A simple and popular constitutive model used to describe the compressional strength of a consolidating strongly cohesive particulate gel is tested further with new experimental data. Strong cohesive particulate gels have variously been…
We study the rheological properties of colloidal microphases in two dimensions simulating a model of colloidal particles with competing interactions. Due to the competition between short-range attraction and long-range repulsion, as a…
Kinetic barriers cause polymers to crystallize incompletely, into nanoscale lamellae interleaved with amorphous regions. As a result, crystalline polymers are full of crystal-melt interfaces, which dominate their physical properties. The…
Photophysical aggregates are ubiquitous in many solid-state microstructures adopted by conjugated polymers, in which $\pi$ electrons interact with those in other polymer chains or those in other chromophores along the chain. These…
The rapid collapse of a polymer, due to external forces or changes in solvent, yields a long-lived `crumpled globule.' The conjectured fractal structure shaped by hierarchical collapse dynamics has proved difficult to establish, even with…
We analyze a bubble forming system composed of particles with competing long range repulsive and short range attractive interactions driven over a quasi-one-dimensional periodic substrate. We find various pinned and sliding phases as a…
Nanocomposite materials made of block copolymer and nanoparticles display properties which can be different from the purely polymeric matrix. The resulting material is a crossover of the original properties of the block copolymer and the…
A fundamental theory is presented for the mechanical response of polymer networks undergoing large deformation which seamlessly integrates statistical mechanical principles with macroscopic thermodynamic constitutive theory. Our formulation…
This work introduces a methodology for the statistical mechanical analysis of polymeric chains under tension controlled by optical or magnetic tweezers at thermal equilibrium with an embedding fluid medium. The response of single bonds…
Phase separation within polymer networks plays a central role in shaping the structure and mechanics of both synthetic materials and living cells, including the formation of biomolecular condensates within cytoskeletal networks. Previous…
Aggregation of like-charged polymers is widely observed in biological and soft matter systems. In many systems, bundles are formed when a short-range attraction of diverse physical origin like charge-bridging, hydrogen-bonding or…
We present the results of a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the surface-tension-driven coalescence of flexible structures. Specifically, we consider the dynamics of the rise of a wetting liquid between flexible sheets…
We performed Langevin dynamics simulations of amphiphilic polymers that contain strongly associating stickers connected by long soluble chain segments. We explored the aging of a thermoreversible gel which is crosslinked by aggregates…
We study the conformation and dynamics of a single polymer chain that is pulled by a constant force applied at its one end with the other end free. Such a situation is relevant to the growing technology of manipulating individual…