Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 21: Polymer dynamics

CPP 21.1: Talk

Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 09:30–09:45, C 264

Self-Entanglement of a Long Polymer Chain — •Diddo Diddens, Albert Johner, and Jörg Baschnagel — Institut Charles Sadron, Université de Strasbourg, 23 Rue du Loess, BP 84047, 67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2

We study the effective interaction between the two halves of a long polymer chain under Θ-conditions by both Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics simulations. It is well known that in good (poor) solvents, different chain segments repulse (attract) each other, whereas these two opposing effects roughly cancel in the vicinity of the Θ-point. However, the topological self-interaction of long polymer chains under these conditions is less clear, which motivated our present analysis.

In a first step, we analyze structural properties such as the number of monomeric contacts between the two halves of the chain as well as characteristic topological quantities. Subsequently, we focus on the dynamical processes leading to the disengagement of the two halves after cutting the chain in the middle. This question is relevant for stimuli-responsive materials, in which e. g. the central bond of a long polymer chain is cleaved photochemically. Another motivation stems from biological issues such as the enzymatic cutting of long DNA/RNA strands in a crowded medium, which also involves the disengagement of distinct parts of long polymer chains. Finally, we will give a brief account on other architectures such as polymer stars.