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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 63: Polymer and Molecular Dynamics II

CPP 63.5: Vortrag

Donnerstag, 15. März 2018, 10:30–10:45, C 264

Self-assembly of semiflexible polymers confined in thin spherical shells — •Mihir Khadilkar and Arash Nikoubashman — Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany

Confinement effects are critical for stiff macromolecules in biological cells, vesicles, and other confined systems. Here, the competition between the packing entropy and the enthalpic cost of bending is further shaped by strong confinement effects. Through coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations of a semiflexible bead-spring model we discovered a rich phase behavior, including nematic ordering with an accumulation of chain ends in the equatorial plane as well as the emergence of bipolar and quadrupolar topological defects on the surface [1, 2]. To better understand the complex interplay between confinement and nematization, we investigate the self-assembly of semiflexible polymers confined in thin spherical shells as a function of chain length, packing density, chain stiffness, and shell thickness. We explore the range of ordered structures exhibited as the system changes from a monolayer to multiple layers, approaching bulk behavior. Relevant order parameters elucidate the nature of orientational ordering in different parameter regimes.

[1] Nikoubashman et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 217803 (2017)

[2] Milchev et al. J. Chem. Phys. 146, 194907 (2017)