Flexibility transitions and looped adsorption of wormlike chains

When deposited from a solution onto a surface, superpolymeric chains display revealing transitions in their apparent stiffness. With simulated chains in adsorption, we varied the backbone rigidity and measured the chain persistence length (l_Pads). As the three‐dimensional persistence length (l_P3) increases toward the contour length, a transition can be seen from l_Pads = l_P2 (i.e., the two‐dimensional persistence length) to l_Pads = l_P3. Looped conformations decrease in frequency with a distinct nonlinear dependence. Finally, comparisons with experiments on polymeric worm micelles and purified neurofilaments demonstrate a simple new method for assessing the flexibility of these novel superpolymers. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 280–286, 2005