Equilibrium Morphologies and Force Extension Behavior for Polymers with Hydrophobic Patches: Role of Quenched Disorder

Mishra, A.; Panwar, A.S.; Chakrabarti, B.

doi:10.1002/mats.201300154

Equilibrium Morphologies and Force Extension Behavior for Polymers with Hydrophobic Patches: Role of Quenched Disorder

Mishra, A.; Panwar, A.S.; Chakrabarti, B.

Authors

A. Mishra

A.S. Panwar

B. Chakrabarti

Abstract

Equilibrium morphologies and mechanical properties of copolymers with hydrophobic segments are explored using Langevin dynamics simulations. The interplay between different length scales, namely, persistence length ℓp, and disorder correlation length p, in addition to the fraction of hydrophobic patches f, determines the equilibrium morphology and in turn their mechanical response. Globular and coil phases for flexible chains and core-shell and looped morphologies for semi-flexible ones are reported. Consequently, a force induced globule-coil transition for flexible chains is observed for all disorder realizations, with p dictating the force vs. extension curves. Semi-flexible chains with same ℓp and f but different p, show different sequences of force-induced conformational transitions on account of their differing equilibrium conformations.

Citation

Mishra, A., Panwar, A., & Chakrabarti, B. (2014). Equilibrium Morphologies and Force Extension Behavior for Polymers with Hydrophobic Patches: Role of Quenched Disorder. Macromolecular Theory and Simulations, 23(4), 266-278. https://doi.org/10.1002/mats.201300154

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	May 1, 2014
Deposit Date	Jan 14, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Jan 20, 2015
Journal	Macromolecular Theory and Simulations
Print ISSN	1022-1344
Electronic ISSN	1521-3919
Publisher	Wiley-VCH Verlag
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	23
Issue	4
Pages	266-278
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1002/mats.201300154
Keywords	Globule-coil transition, Hydrophobicity, Molecular simulations, Quenched disorder, Semiflexible polymers.

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Copyright Statement
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mishra, A., Panwar, A. S. and Chakrabarti, B. (2014), Equilibrium Morphologies and Force Extension Behavior for Polymers with Hydrophobic Patches: Role of Quenched Disorder. Macromolecular Theory and Simulations, 23 (4): 266-278, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mats.201300154. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley-VCH Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.