Elasticity of polymeric nanocolloidal particles

Autor(en)

Jonas Riest, Labrini Athanasopoulou, Sergei A. Egorov, Christos N. Likos, Primoz Ziherl

Abstrakt

Softness is an essential mechanical feature of macromolecular particles such as polymer-grafted nanocolloids, polyelectrolyte networks, cross-linked microgels as well as block copolymer and dendrimer micelles. Elasticity of individual particles directly controls their swelling, wetting, and adsorption behaviour, their aggregation and self-assembly as well as structural and rheological properties of suspensions. Here we use numerical simulations and self-consistent field theory to study the deformation behaviour of a single spherical polymer brush upon diametral compression. We observe a universal response, which is rationalised using scaling arguments and interpreted in terms of two coarse-grained models. At small and intermediate compressions the deformation can be accurately reproduced by modelling the brush as a liquid drop, whereas at large compressions the brush behaves as a soft ball. Applicable far beyond the pairwise-additive small-strain regime, the models may be used to describe microelasticity of nanocolloids in severe confinement including dense disordered and crystalline phases.

Organisation(en)

Computergestützte Physik und Physik der Weichen Materie, Forschungsplattform Internationales Erwin Schrödinger Institut für Mathematik und Physik

Externe Organisation(en)

Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS), University of Virginia, University of Ljubljana

Journal

Scientific Reports

Band

5

Anzahl der Seiten

12

ISSN

2045-2322

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/srep15854

Publikationsdatum

11-2015

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

103015 Kondensierte Materie, 103029 Statistische Physik, 103036 Theoretische Physik, 103023 Polymerphysik

Schlagwörter

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/138401c9-8b93-430e-82c0-f5fa3a57d021