We develop an alternative polymer model to capture entanglements within the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) framework by using simplified bond-bond repulsive interactions to prevent bond crossings. We show that structural and thermodynamic properties can be improved by applying a segmental repulsive potential (SRP) that is a function of the distance between the midpoints of the segments, rather than the minimum distance between segments. The alternative approach, termed the modified segmental repulsive potential (mSRP), is shown to produce chain structures and thermodynamic properties that are similar to the softly repulsive, flexible chains of standard DPD. Parameters for the mSRP are determined from topological, structural, and thermodynamic considerations. The effectiveness of the mSRP in capturing entanglements is demonstrated by calculating the diffusion and mechanical properties of an entangled polymer melt.
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Gels
December 2024
Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage, Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, Hubei Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials and Medical Protective Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Hydrogels are widely used in the field of adhesive materials. However, hydrogel adhesion has previously required the covalent graft of supramolecular groups on polymeric chains. In contrast to that, here, a hydrogel adhesion induced by covalent polymer entanglement between two hydrogel networks was reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Healthc Mater
December 2024
John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
Both rigid plastics and soft hydrogels find ample applications in engineering and medicine but bear their own disadvantages that limit their broader applications. Bonding these mechanically dissimilar materials may resolve these limitations, preserve their advantages, and offer new opportunities as biointerfaces. Here, a robust adhesion strategy is proposed to integrate highly entangled tough hydrogels and diverse plastics with high interfacial adhesion energy and strength.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Chem Soc
December 2024
Department of Chemistry at Brown University, 324 Brook Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, United States.
Biomacromolecular networks with multiscale fibrillar structures are characterized by exceptional mechanical properties, making them attractive architectures for synthetic materials. However, there is a dearth of synthetic polymeric building blocks capable of forming similarly structured networks. Bottlebrush polymers (BBPs) are anisotropic graft polymers with the potential to mimic and replace biomacromolecules such as tropocollagen for the fabrication of synthetic fibrillar networks; however, a longstanding limitation of BBPs has been the lack of rigidity necessary to access the lyotropic ordering that underpins the formation of collagenous networks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Colloid Interface Sci
December 2024
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan 32001, Taiwan. Electronic address:
Eutectogels have emerged as a promising material for wearable devices due to its superior ionic conductivity, non-volatility, and low cost. Despite numerous efforts, only a limited number of polymers and gelling mechanisms have been successfully employed in the fabrication of eutectogels. In this study, an effective three-dimensional network is developed based on the entanglements of polymer chains, facilitating the formation of an entangled eutectogel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWater Res
December 2024
BRGM (French Geological Survey), Orléans 45060, France.
Polymer solution injection has emerged as a promising method for the remediation of NAPL (non-aqueous phase liquids)-contaminated aquifers. This technique enhances recovery efficiency by modifying viscous forces, stabilizing the displacement front, and minimizing channeling effects. However, there remains a significant gap in understanding the behavior of polymer solutions, particularly those with different molecular weights (MW), for mobilizing DNAPL (dense non-aqueous phase liquids) trapped in heterogeneous aquifers, especially within low-permeability layers.
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