Helical Conformations of Semiflexible Polymers Confined between Two Concentric Cylinders

Abstract

An off-lattice Monte Carlo method was used to study the conformational properties of semiflexible chains confined between two concentric cylinders. The conformations of confined semiflexible chains depend on the bending energy as well as the size of confinement, and the semiflexible chains with particular rigidities confined in the appropriate spaces can form helical structures under entropically driven. The inner cylinder plays a key role in the formation of helical conformations, whereas the outer cylinder affects the size of confinement. Furthermore, the helical structures keep fluctuating like a harmonic oscillation, and the clockwise or counterclockwise helical conformations will appear with the same possibility in the processes of relaxation-helix transitions. This study can help us understand the conformational behaviors of biological macromolecules in confined space.

Self-Assembly of Helical Polyacetylene Nanostructures on Carbon Nanotubes

“…The PA chain with 25 repeat units just extends along the tube surface, and the longer chain with 50 or 200 repeat units can partly wrap on the SWNT. This is because the conformation of the polymer chains is determined by the competition between the elastic energy driving toward a rigid conformation and the entropy energy favoring random chain configuration. , When the chain length is shorter (25 repeat units), the stiff polymer is difficult to overcome the elastic energy to wrap onto SWNT. With increasing the chain length (50 repeat units), the deformation of the polymer becomes easier; thus, we can see some fractions of the polymer chains can wrap onto SWNT.…”

Structure and dynamics of an active polymer adsorbed on the surface of a cylinder

“…3d), demonstrating the irregular alternative adsorption/ desorption process of the polymer. 32 The desorption is triggered similarly by the thermal fluctuation of the head monomer and the stress-induced extrusion. In this case, the active force is large enough to overcome the adsorption energy 33 and leads to complete desorption of the polymer (see Mov_S3, ESI †).…”

Structural phases of adsorption for flexible polymers on nanocylinder surfaces

“…This leaves computer simulations the only flexible tool for thorough studies of models that are capable of reproducing generic features of such hybrid systems. Previous computational studies of lattice and off-lattice polymer adsorption studies on planar surfaces [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] and substrates with global and local curvature [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] already provided insight into specific properties of different structural phases of adsorbed polymer chains and the analysis of their statistical mechanics. 28 In this paper, we extend previous studies on adsorption processes of polymers at ultrathin nanowires and their structural hyperphase diagrams [19][20][21]24 to polymer adsorption at attractive cylindrical substrates [15][16][17][18] that resemble, e.g., nanotubes.…”