Molecular conformations of dumbbell-shaped polymers in good solvent.

We study conformational properties of diluted dumbbell polymers composed of two rings attached to both ends of a linear spacer segment. Our investigation involves analytical methods of field theory and bead-spring coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. We focus on the influence of the relative length of the spacer segment to the length of side rings on the shape and the relative size of dumbbells as compared to linear polymers of equal mass.

Conformational properties of hybrid star-shaped polymers comprised of linear and ring arms.

We study the influence of arm architecture on the conformational properties of hybrid star-shaped macromolecules called rosette polymers containing linear and ring grafts connected to a central branching point in a good solvent regime. We utilize analytical methods and molecular dynamics simulations to determine the estimates for the relative size ratios of these polymers with respect to linear chains and starlike polymers composed of the same number of solely linear arms and equal molecular weights. The results of numerical simulations corroborate our theoretical prediction that rosette polymers undergo conformational compactification with increasing functionality of grafted rings.

Universal size ratios of Gaussian polymers with complex architecture: radius of gyration vs hydrodynamic radius.

We study the impact of arm architecture of polymers with a single branch point on their structure in solvents. Many physical properties of polymer liquids strongly dependent on the size and shape measures of individual macromolecules, which in turn are determined by their topology. Here, we use combination of analytical theory, based on path integration method, and molecular dynamics simulations to study structural properties of complex Gaussian polymers containing [Formula: see text] linear branches and [Formula: see text] closed loops grafted to the central core.