Cluster Glasses of Semiflexible Ring Polymers

Autor(en)

Mohammed Zakaria Slimani, Petra Bacova, Marco Bernabei, Arturo Narros, Christos N. Likos, Angel J. Moreno

Abstrakt

We present computer simulations of concentrated solutions of unknotted nonconcatenated semiflexible ring polymers. Unlike in their flexible counterparts, shrinking involves a strong energetic penalty, favoring interpenetration and clustering of the rings. We investigate the slow dynamics of the centers-of-mass of the rings in the amorphous cluster phase, consisting of disordered columns of oblate rings penetrated by bundles of prolate ones. Scattering functions reveal a striking decoupling of self- and collective motions. Correlations between centers-of-mass exhibit slow relaxation, as expected for an incipient glass transition, indicating the dynamic arrest of the cluster positions. However, self-correlations decay at much shorter time scales. This feature is a manifestation of the fast, continuous exchange and diffusion of the individual rings over the matrix of clusters. Our results reveal a novel scenario of glass formation in a simple monodisperse system, characterized by self-collective decoupling, soft caging, and mild dynamic heterogeneity.

Organisation(en)

Computergestützte Physik und Physik der Weichen Materie

Externe Organisation(en)

University of the Basque Country, Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Journal

ACS Macro Letters

Band

3

Seiten

611-616

Anzahl der Seiten

6

ISSN

2161-1653

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1021/mz500117v

Publikationsdatum

07-2014

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

103023 Polymerphysik

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Materials Chemistry, Polymers and Plastics, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/a2697dec-a29a-4ef3-ba81-5aef39281534