Giant Nonmonotonic Stretching Response of a Self-Associating Polymer in Shear Flow

Self-associating polymers are ubiquitous in synthetic and biological systems. Here, we use a combination of simulation and theory to show that these polymers exhibit a counterintuitive strong nonmonotonic stretching response in shear flow. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this behavior can be tuned...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alexander-Katz, Alfredo (Contributor), Sing, Charles E. (Contributor)
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society (APS), 2012-02-09T18:17:37Z.
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Summary:Self-associating polymers are ubiquitous in synthetic and biological systems. Here, we use a combination of simulation and theory to show that these polymers exhibit a counterintuitive strong nonmonotonic stretching response in shear flow. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this behavior can be tuned by controlling the barrier for dissociation of the bonds and develop a quantitative and predictive theory based on conformational transitions to explain the observed behavior. Our results can be important in understanding previous experimental and theoretical observations and further aid in the development of novel smart materials.
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CAREER Grant No. 1054671)