高分子链在微通道剪切流中的迁移机制及浓度的影响

提出了剪切流中高分子链在微通道内的迁移机制.该机制采用珠-簧链模型表示高分子链,高分子链受剪切作用而被拉伸,相邻珠子之间的流体力学相互作用产生了对称的扰动流场,由于在通道壁面附近对称的流场被破坏,壁面与高分子链间的流体力学相互作用使高分子远离壁面,在强受限时,这种壁面诱导的流体力学相互作用会被屏蔽掉.利用耗散粒子动力学数值模拟了高分子链在微通道压力流中的迁移行为.数值模拟结果表明,在受限较弱时,高分子链向远离壁面的方向迁移,并随着流场增强,远离壁面的趋势越强;在受限较强时,高分子链不会发生远离壁面的行为.实验研究了长链高分子λ-DNA在壁面附近的迁移行为,实验结果及模拟结果与迁移机制预测的结果相吻合,验证了迁移机制的正确性.高分子链浓度会影响高分子链的迁移行为,当高分子链浓度较大时,高分子链在通道宽度方向不会发生迁移现象,意味着随着浓度的增大,壁面与高分子链间的流体力学相互作用会逐渐被屏蔽.     

高分子在受限稀溶液中的结构和动力学性质

利用平衡态及非平衡态耗散粒子动力学模拟方法, 分别研究了平衡态和流场作用下受限高分子在稀溶液中的链结构和动力学. 采用没有滑移和密度涨落的边界条件模拟纳米管道环境, 进而研究了高分子回转半径和扩散系数对受限强度及高分子与溶剂间相互作用的依赖关系. 在非平衡态模拟中, 分别考虑了Poiseuille和Couette两种流场. 研究发现, 在这两种流场作用下, 高分子都随着溶剂与高分子排斥作用的降低而向管道中心迁移. 在强流场下, 在Poiseuille流场中高分子密度呈现出双峰分布, 而在Couette流场中则呈现为单峰分布.     

微通道中高分子运动的耗散粒子动力学模拟

对不同长度及不同数量的高分子链在微直通道及微缩通道中的流动进行了模拟与分析.研究表明,高分子链的伸展状态与微通道的形状密切相关,微直通道中高分子链能较充分地伸展,方形微缩通道中高分子链未能充分伸展,而斜坡微缩通道中高分子链的伸展状态介于微直通道与方形微缩通道之间.高分子的存在对微通道系统的温度没有明显影响,对密度与水平流动速度有较明显的影响.高分子链的运动直接影响到周围的简单流体粒子,降低其周围流体粒子的流动速度,对密度与速度产生局部扰动,形成"拖曳"现象.高分子链分布越密集,长度越长,高分子链的拖曳现象越明显.     

pH响应的嵌段共聚有机膜的计算机模拟

采用耗散粒子动力学模拟了PS-PAA-PEO三嵌段共聚物在非溶剂诱导下自组装形成通道孔结构高分子膜的过程.探讨了聚合物浓度对多孔膜结构的影响,得到了制备通道孔高分子膜的合适浓度范围.在不同pH值下,聚合物膜孔具有开关效应,并计算了相应的孔径.研究结果表明:当溶液的pH值由酸性转为中性时,通道孔从打开状态切换为关闭状态,达到了理想的智能开关效果.另外,在不同pH下的通道膜对不同尺寸的纳米粒子有选择性透过作用.结果发现孔径越小,可截留越小尺寸的纳米颗粒.     

流场中单链高分子过孔输运的动力学行为

采用布朗动力学方法,通过模拟不同温度和流速下,不同链长的单链高分子穿过纳米孔洞的动力学行为,证实了临界流速的存在,并验证了理论预测的结果,即临界流量随体系温度线性增大,且与链长无关.还对高分子链过孔输运时间以及输运过程中链构象的变化进行了研究.模拟结果为明晰在剪切流场中高分子穿过纳米孔洞的动力学行为提供了有益参考.     

用耗散粒子动力学方法研究高分子链取向对形变液滴回缩法测定界面张力值的影响

在利用形变液滴回缩法(DDRM)测量了分子共混体系界面张力的过程中, 要求椭球液滴内高分子链应力松弛速度远快于椭球的回缩速度. 我们建立高分子链取向模型, 用耗散粒子动力学研究高分子链的取向及应力松弛对界面张力测量值的影响. 结果表明, 当高分子链沿着流场方向取向时, 应力是否完全松弛对界面张力测量值的影响较大, 当高分子链取向方向垂直于流场方向时, 应力是否松弛对测量值影响较小.     

顶盖驱动流中胶束形态变化的耗散粒子动力学研究

利用耗散粒子动力学模拟方法研究了顶盖驱动方腔流条件下, 线性两嵌段共聚物胶束形态的变化. 结果表明弱的流场对胶束的形态影响不大, 但是在中等强度流场的作用下, 小胶束会融合并形成条状胶束, 而在很强的流场作用下, 胶束会被破坏而形成体积更小的球状胶束.     

耗散粒子动力学和纳维边界条件在微米纳米流体力学模拟中的应用

耗散粒子动力学是一种粗粒化的计算模拟方法,在微米和纳米流体力学中有着广泛的应用.由于界面在微小体积流体中的重要性,边界条件的选取在微米和纳米流体的研究中起到了关键性的作用.我们简单地介绍了耗散粒子动力学的模拟方法,并以此为基础,介绍了能够实现纳维边界条件的可调滑移长度的边界条件模拟方法.通过条纹状图案修饰的超疏水表面的流体力学行为研究,和高分子链在微米纳米流体器件中的运动研究2个例子,耗散粒子动力学结合纳维边界条件的模拟方法的实用性和可靠性得到了证实.     

高分子/单链高分子纳米粒子复合体系中的界面性质

高分子与纳米粒子复合是改善高分子材料性能的有效途径.近20年来关于高分子/纳米粒子复合物的研究引起了学术界广泛的兴趣.然而由于此类体系中的影响因素复杂,虽然学者们在相关材料性能的研究方面取得了重要进展,但是相关理论的发展却相对滞后,其中一个重要原因是实验上表征手段的缺失,导致对体系中纳米粒子与本体高分子链相互作用规律的认识(尤其是两者界面性质的认识)不够.本文总结和阐述了我们近几年利用分子动力学模拟技术研究高分子/单链高分子纳米粒子复合体系的主要结果,并围绕此类复合体系中的界面结构及动力学性质,讨论并总结了纳米粒子对本体高分子链的作用范围及影响规律,指出单链纳米粒子对熔体链的作用范围与纳米粒子的自身尺寸相当,而与熔体高分子链的分子量没有直接的关系.该结论将为纳米复合体系高分子理论的发展提供重要参考.     

端基附壁高分子模型链的塌缩转变

借MonteCarlo和模拟退火方法研究了端基附壁高分子尾形链在不同温度下的形态变化 ,链的模型采用有最近邻相互吸引作用的自避行走 .计算机实验结果表明 ,对于端基附壁的高分子尾形链 ,与自由链一样 ,当温度逐渐降低时高分子链会发生从松散的无规线团到紧密球体的塌缩转变 .计算机模拟得到了端基附壁链的均方末端距及其分量 ,均方回转半径及分布随温度的变化 .由于刚性壁的影响 ,使得有限链长的高分子尾形链与自由链相比 ,其表示链尺寸 温度关系的曲线要稍低 .模拟还发现 ,在高温时壁对链形状的影响比较大 ,壁垂直方向上尺寸明显大于平行方向的尺寸 ,后者接近于自由链的尺寸分量 .然而 ,低于θ温度时 ,尤其是完全塌缩之后 ,壁对链形状的影响已经很小 .     

Flow-induced translocation of polymers through a fluidic channel: a dissipative particle dynamics simulation study

The dynamics of flow-induced translocation of polymers through a fluidic channel has been studied by dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) approach. Unlike implicit solvent models, the many-body energetic and hydrodynamic interactions are preserved naturally by incorporating explicit solvent particles in this approach. The no-slip wall boundary and the adaptive boundary conditions have been implemented in the modified DPD approach to model the hydrodynamic flow within a specific wall structure of fluidic channel and control the particles' density fluctuations. The results show that the average translocation time versus polymer chain length satisfies a power-law scaling of τ ～N(1.152). The conformational changes and translocation dynamics of polymers through the fluidic channel have also been investigated in our simulations, and two different translocation processes, i.e., the single-file and double-folded translocation events, have been observed in detail. These findings may be helpful in understanding the conformational and dynamic behaviors of such polymer and/or DNA molecules during the translocation processes.     

Effects of Electrostatic Interactions on the Translocation of Polymers Through a Narrow Pore Under Different Solvent Conditions: A Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulation Study

Polymer translocation through a narrow pore is investigated using a particle‐based dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method. A rigid core is included in each particle to avoid particle interpenetration problems based on the original DPD method. Electrostatic interactions of charged particles are simply represented via screened Coulombic interactions. The average translocation time τ versus polymer length N satisfies the scaling law τ ∼ N^β. The scaling exponent β depends on solvent quality. The results demonstrate that solvent quality exerts a considerable influence on the dynamics of translocation of polymers. The findings may help facilitate understanding of the dynamic behaviors of various polymer and DNA molecules during translocation processes.

     

Reduction of the effective shear viscosity in polymer solutions due to crossflow migration in microchannels: Effective viscosity models based on DPD simulations

Molecular dynamics simulations (dissipative particle dynamics–DPD) were developed and used to quantify wall-normal migration of polymer chains in microchannel Poseuille flow. Crossflow migration due to viscous interaction with the walls results in lowered polymer concentration near the channel walls. A larger fraction of the total flow volume becomes depleted of polymer when the channel width h decreases into the submicron range, significantly reducing the effective viscosity. The effective viscosity was quantified in terms of channel width and Weissenberg number Wi, for 5% polymer volume fraction in water. Algebraic models for the depletion width δ(Wi, h) and effective viscosity μ_e(δ/h, Wi) were developed, based on the hydrodynamic theory of Ma and Graham and our simulation results. The depletion width model can be applied to longer polymer chains after a retuning of the polymer persistence length and the corresponding potential/thermal energy ratio.     

Translocation of polymers with folded configurations across nanopores

The transport of polymers with folded configurations across membrane pores is investigated theoretically by analyzing simple discrete stochastic models. The translocation dynamics is viewed as a sequence of two events: motion of the folded segment through the channel followed by the linear part of the polymer. The transition rates vary for the folded and linear segments because of different interactions between the polymer molecule and the pore. It is shown that the translocation time depends nonmonotonously on the length of the folded segment for short polymers and weak external fields, while it becomes monotonous for long molecules and large fields. Also, there is a critical interaction between the polymers and the pore that separates two dynamic regimes. For stronger interactions, the folded polymer moves slower, while for weaker interactions, the linear chain translocation is the fastest. In addition, our calculations show that the folding does not change the translocation scaling properties of the polymer. These phenomena can be explained by the interplay between translocation distances and transition rates for the folded and linear segments of the polymer. Our theoretical results are applied for analysis of experimental translocations through solid-state nanopores.     

Dynamics of liquid–liquid demixing: mesoscopic simulations of polymer solutions

In this article, the mesoscopic simulation method dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) is applied to study the dynamics of polymer–solvent liquid–liquid phase separation. It will be shown that the degree of branching has a pronounced effect on the radius of gyration and the centre of mass diffusion of the polymer. Based on the simulation results it can be concluded that the difference in chemical potential between the mixed and the demixed state is the main driving force behind the centre of mass diffusion (and thus phase separation), rather than the reduced radius of gyration due to to polymer chain collapse.     

Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulations of Polymer Brushes: Comparison with Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Summary: The structure of polymer brushes is investigated by dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations that include explicit solvent particles. With an appropriate choice of the DPD interaction parameters , we obtain good agreement with previous molecular dynamics (MD) results where the good solvent behavior has been modeled by an effective Lennard–Jones potential. The present results confirm that DPD simulation techniques can be applied for large length scale simulations of polymer brushes. A relation between the different length scales and is established.

Polymer brush at a solid–liquid interface.     

Phase behavior of lyotropic rigid-chain polymer liquid crystal studied by dissipative particle dynamics

The phase behavior of lyotropic rigid-chain liquid crystal polymer was studied by dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) with variations of the solution concentration and temperature. A chain of fused DPD particles was used to represent each mesogenic polymer backbone surrounded with the strongly interacted solvent molecules. The free solvent molecules were modeled as independent DPD particles, where each particle includes a lump of solvent molecules with the volume roughly equal to the solvated polymer segment. The simulation shows that smectic-B (S(B)), smectic-A (S(A)), nematic (N), and isotropic (I) phases exist within certain regions in the temperature and concentration parameter space. The temperature-dependent S(B)∕S(A), S(A)∕N, and N∕I phase transitions occur in the high concentration range. In the intermediate concentration range, the simulation shows coexistence of the anisotropic phases and isotropic phase, where the anisotropic phases can be the S(B), S(A), or N phases. Mole fraction and compositions of the coexisted phases are determined from the simulation, which indicates that concentration of rigid rods in isotropic phase increases as the temperature increases. By fitting the orientational distribution function of the systems, the biphasic coexistence is further confirmed. From the parameter α obtained for the simulation, the distribution of the rigid rods in the two coexistence phases is quantitatively evaluated. By using model and simulation methods developed in this work, the phase diagrams of the lyotropic rigid-chain polymer liquid crystal are obtained. Incorporating the solvent particles in the DPD simulation is critical to predict the phase coexistence and obtain the phase diagrams.     

First passage time distribution of chaperone driven polymer translocation through a nanopore: homopolymer and heteropolymer cases

Combining the advection-diffusion equation approach with Monte Carlo simulations we study chaperone driven polymer translocation of a stiff polymer through a nanopore. We demonstrate that the probability density function of first passage times across the pore depends solely on the Pe?clet number, a dimensionless parameter comparing drift strength and diffusivity. Moreover it is shown that the characteristic exponent in the power-law dependence of the translocation time on the chain length, a function of the chaperone-polymer binding energy, the chaperone concentration, and the chain length, is also effectively determined by the Pe?clet number. We investigate the effect of the chaperone size on the translocation process. In particular, for large chaperone size, the translocation progress and the mean waiting time as function of the reaction coordinate exhibit pronounced sawtooth-shapes. The effects of a heterogeneous polymer sequence on the translocation dynamics is studied in terms of the translocation velocity, the probability distribution for the translocation progress, and the monomer waiting times.     

Polymer translocation through a nanopore. II. Excluded volume effect

Following our previous study of a Gaussian chain translocation, we have investigated the transport of a self-avoiding chain from one sphere to another sphere through a narrow pore, using the self-consistent field theory formalism. The free energy landscape for polymer translocation is significantly modified by excluded volume interactions among monomers. The free energy barrier for the placement of one of the chain ends at the pore depends on the chain length N nonmonotonically, in contrast to the N-independence for Gaussian chains. This results in a nonmonotonic dependence of the average arrival time [tau0] on N for self-avoiding chains. When the polymer chain is partitioned between the donor and recipient spheres, a local free energy minimum develops, depending on the strength w of the excluded volume interaction and the relative sizes of the donor and recipient spheres. If the sizes of spheres are comparable, the average translocation time tau (the average time taken by the polymer, after the arrival at the pore, to convert from the donor to the recipient) increases with an increase in w for a fixed N value. On the other hand, for the highly asymmetric sizes of the donor and recipient spheres, tau decreases with an increase in w. As in the case of Gaussian chains, tau depends nonmonotonically on the pore length.     

Unforced translocation of a polymer chain through a nanopore: the solvent effect

The authors have performed the Langevin dynamics simulation to investigate the unforced polymer translocation through a narrow nanopore in an impermeable membrane. The effects of solvent quality controlled by the attraction strength lambda of the Lennard-Jones cosine potential between polymer beads and beads on two sides of the membrane on the translocation processes are extensively examined. For polymer translocation under the same solvent quality on both sides of the membrane, the two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations confirm the scaling law of tautrans approximately N1+2upsilon for the translocation in the good solvent, where tautrans is the translocation time, N is the chain length, and upsilon is the Flory exponent. For the three-dimensional polymer translocation under different solvent qualities on two sides of the membrane, the translocation efficiency may be notably improved. The scaling law between tautrans and N varies from tautrans approximately N1+2upsilon to tautrans approximately N with the increase of the difference of solvent qualities, and the crossover occurs at the theta temperature point, where a scaling law of tautrans approximately N1.27 is found. The simulation results here also show that the translocation time changes from a wide and asymmetric distribution with a long tail to a narrow and symmetric distribution with the increase of the difference of the solvent qualities.