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Almodóvar A, Galla T, López C. Extinction and coexistence in a binary mixture of proliferating motile disks. Phys Rev E 2024; 109:064140. [PMID: 39021032 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.109.064140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
A binary mixture of two-different-size proliferating motile disks is studied. As growth is space limited, we focus on the conditions such that there is a coexistence of both large and small disks, or dominance of the larger disks. The study involves systematically varying some system parameters, such as diffusivities, growth rates, and self-propulsion velocities. In particular, we demonstrate that diffusing faster confers a competitive advantage, so that larger disks can in the long time coexist or even dominate the smaller ones. In the case of self-propelled disks, a coexistence regime is induced by the activity where the two types of disks show the same spatial distribution: both particles are phase separated or both are homogeneously distributed in the whole system.
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2
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Yan R, Zhao C, Zhao N. Attractive crowding effect on passive and active polymer looping kinetics. J Chem Phys 2024; 160:134902. [PMID: 38568946 DOI: 10.1063/5.0199023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Loop formation in complex environments is crucially important to many biological processes in life. In the present work, we adopt three-dimensional Langevin dynamics simulations to investigate passive and active polymer looping kinetics in crowded media featuring polymer-crowder attraction. We find polymers undergo a remarkable coil-globule-coil transition, highlighted by a marked change in the Flory scaling exponent of the gyration radius. Meanwhile, looping time as a function of the crowder's volume fraction demonstrates an apparent non-monotonic alteration. A small number of crowders induce a compact structure, which largely facilitates the looping process. While a large number of crowders heavily impede end-to-end diffusion, looping kinetics is greatly inhibited. For a self-propelled chain, we find that the attractive crowding triggers an unusual activity effect on looping kinetics. Once a globular state is formed, activity takes an effort to open the chain from the compact structure, leading to an unexpected activity-induced inhibition of looping. If the chain maintains a coil state, the dominant role of activity is to enhance diffusivity and, thus, speed up looping kinetics. The novel conformational change and looping kinetics of both passive and active polymers in the presence of attractive crowding highlight a rather distinct scenario that has no analogy in a repulsive crowding counterpart. The underlying mechanism enriches our understanding of the crucial role of attractive interactions in modulating polymer structure and dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ran Yan
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Chaonan Zhao
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Nanrong Zhao
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
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3
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Yan R, Tan F, Wang J, Zhao N. Conformation and dynamics of an active filament in crowded media. J Chem Phys 2023; 158:114905. [PMID: 36948796 DOI: 10.1063/5.0142559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The structural and dynamical properties of active filamentous objects under macromolecular crowding have a great relevance in biology. By means of Brownian dynamics simulations, we perform a comparative study for the conformational change and diffusion dynamics of an active chain in pure solvents and in crowded media. Our result shows a robust compaction-to-swelling conformational change with the augment of the Péclet number. The presence of crowding facilitates self-trapping of monomers and, thus, reinforces the activity mediated compaction. In addition, the efficient collisions between the self-propelled monomers and crowders induce a coil-to-globulelike transition, indicated by a marked change of the Flory scaling exponent of the gyration radius. Moreover, the diffusion dynamics of the active chain in crowded solutions demonstrates activity-enhanced subdiffusion. The center of mass diffusion manifests rather new scaling relations with respect to both the chain length and Péclet number. The interplay of chain activity and medium crowding provides a new mechanism to understand the non-trivial properties of active filaments in complex environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ran Yan
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Fei Tan
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Jingli Wang
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Nanrong Zhao
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
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4
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Yadav RS, Das C, Chakrabarti R. Dynamics of a spherical self-propelled tracer in a polymeric medium: interplay of self-propulsion, stickiness, and crowding. SOFT MATTER 2023; 19:689-700. [PMID: 36598025 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm01626e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
We employ computer simulations to study the dynamics of a self-propelled spherical tracer particle in a viscoelastic medium, made of a long polymer chain. Here, the interplay between viscoelasticity, stickiness, and activity (self-propulsion) brings additional complexity to the tracer dynamics. Our simulations show that on increasing the stickiness of the tracer particle to the polymer beads, the dynamics of the tracer particle slows down as it gets stuck to the polymer chain and moves along with it. But with increasing self-propulsion velocity, the dynamics gets enhanced. In the case of increasing stickiness as well as activity, the non-Gaussian parameter (NGP) exhibits non-monotonic behavior, which also shows up in the re-scaled self part of the van-Hove function. Non-Gaussianity results owing to the enhanced binding events and the sticky motion of the tracer along with the chain with increasing stickiness. On the other hand, with increasing activity, initially non-Gaussianity increases as the tracer moves through the heterogeneous polymeric environment but for higher activity, the tracer escapes resulting in a negative NGP. For higher values of stickiness, the trapping time distributions of the passive tracer particle broaden and have long tails. On the other hand, for a given stickiness with increasing self-propulsion force, the trapping time distributions become narrower and have short tails. We believe that our current simulation study will be helpful in elucidating the complex motion of activity-driven probes in viscoelastic media.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramanand Singh Yadav
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
| | - Chintu Das
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
| | - Rajarshi Chakrabarti
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
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5
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Kumar P, Chakrabarti R. Dynamics of self-propelled tracer particles inside a polymer network. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:1937-1946. [PMID: 36541408 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp04253c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The transport of tracer particles through mesh-like environments such as biological hydrogels and polymer matrices is ubiquitous in nature. These tracers can be passive, such as colloids, or active (self-propelled), for example, synthetic nanomotors or bacteria. Computer simulations in principle could be extremely useful in exploring the mechanism of the active transport of tracer particles through mesh-like environments. Therefore, we construct a polymer network on a diamond lattice and use computer simulations to investigate the dynamics of spherical self-propelled particles inside the network. Our main objective is to elucidate the effect of the self-propulsion on the tracer particle dynamics as a function of the tracer size and the stiffness of the polymer network. We compute the time-averaged mean-squared displacement (MSD) and the van-Hove correlations of the tracer. On the one hand, in the case of a bigger sticky particle, the caging caused by the network particles wins over the escape assisted by the self-propulsion. This results an intermediate-time subdiffusion. On the other hand, smaller tracers or tracers with high self-propulsion velocities can easily escape from the cages and show intermediate-time superdiffusion. The stiffer the network, the slower the dynamics of the tracer, and bigger tracers exhibit longer lived intermediate time superdiffusion, since the persistence time scales as ∼σ3, where σ is the diameter of the tracer. At the intermediate time, non-Gaussianity is more pronounced for active tracers. At the long time, the dynamics of the tracer, if passive or weakly active, becomes Gaussian and diffusive, but remains flat for tracers with high self-propulsion, accounting for their seemingly unrestricted motion inside the network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Praveen Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
| | - Rajarshi Chakrabarti
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
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6
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Martín-Martín S, Ramos-Tejada MDM, Rubio-Andrés A, Bonhome-Espinosa AB, Delgado ÁV, Jiménez ML. Electro-optical Study of the Anomalous Rotational Diffusion in Polymer Solutions. Macromolecules 2023; 56:518-527. [PMID: 36711111 PMCID: PMC9879198 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Brownian diffusion of spherical nanoparticles is usually exploited to ascertain the rheological properties of complex media. However, the behavior of the tracer particles is affected by a number of phenomena linked to the interplay between the dynamics of the particles and polymer coils. For this reason, the characteristic lengths of the dispersed entities, depletion phenomena, and the presence of sticking conditions have been observed to affect the translational diffusion of the probes. On the other hand, the retardation effect of the host fluid on the rotational diffusion of nonspherical particles is less understood. We explore the possibility of studying this phenomenon by analyzing the electro-orientation of the particles in different scenarios in which we vary the ratio between the particle and polymer characteristic size, and the geometry of the particles, including both elongated and oblate shapes. We find that the Stokes-Einstein relation only applies if the radius of gyration of the polymer is much shorter than the particle size and when some repulsive interaction between both is present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Martín-Martín
- Department
of Applied Physics, School of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071Granada, Spain
| | | | - Antonio Rubio-Andrés
- Department
of Applied Physics, School of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071Granada, Spain
| | - Ana B. Bonhome-Espinosa
- Department
of Applied Physics, School of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071Granada, Spain
| | - Ángel V. Delgado
- Department
of Applied Physics, School of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071Granada, Spain
| | - María L. Jiménez
- Department
of Applied Physics, School of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071Granada, Spain,
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7
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Hu HX, Shen YF, Wang C, Luo MB. Dynamics of a two-dimensional active polymer chain with a rotation-restricted active head. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:8820-8829. [PMID: 36367147 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm01139e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The dynamics of a two-dimensional active polymer composed of an active Brownian particle (ABP) at the head and a passive polymer chain is investigated using Langevin dynamics simulation. The ABP experiences a self-propulsion force fs and a resistance torque M as the passive polymer chain is bonded to the edge of the ABP. M restricts the rotation of the ABP, and thus the dynamics of the ABP and that of the whole active polymer are influenced significantly. Due to this restriction, the persistence time τr, which characterizes the random rotation of the ABP, is increased significantly and changes non-monotonically with the rotational friction coefficient ηr. Our simulation results show that the effect of M on the dynamics of the active polymer can be characterized mainly by the change of τr. Moreover, the propulsive diffusion coefficient DP of the whole polymer chain originated from the self-propulsion force can be described by a scaling relation DP ∝ fs2τr/N2ηt2 with ηt the translational friction coefficient and N the polymer length. Our results show that the diffusion is promoted by the resistance torque M and τr is a key factor for the diffusion of active polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han-Xian Hu
- Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China.
| | - Yi-Fan Shen
- Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China.
| | - Chao Wang
- Department of Physics, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang, China.
| | - Meng-Bo Luo
- Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, Zhejiang, China.
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8
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Theeyancheri L, Sahoo R, Kumar P, Chakrabarti R. In Silico Studies of Active Probe Dynamics in Crowded Media. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:33637-33650. [PMID: 36188301 PMCID: PMC9520552 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c04709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Active systems are made of agents, each of which takes energy from the environment and converts it to directed motion. Therefore, by construction, these systems function out of equilibrium and cannot be described using equilibrium statistical mechanics. Though the most studied aspect has been the collective motion of active particles, the motion at the individual particle level in crowded media is also of prime importance. Examples include the motion of bacteria in hydrogels, single cell migration as a way to search for food or escape from toxic agents, and synthetic active agents transporting through soft crowded media. This review presents an overview of our understanding of single active probe dynamics in crowded media from computer simulations. The active probe is a Janus or a dumbbell-shaped particle, and the medium is made of crowders that are either sticky or repulsive to the probe and could be frozen or mobile. The density and the topology of the crowders also play an important role. We hope our in silico studies will help to elucidate the mechanism of activity-driven transport in crowded media in general and design nanomachines for targeted delivery.
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9
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Kim Y, Joo S, Kim WK, Jeon JH. Active Diffusion of Self-Propelled Particles in Flexible Polymer Networks. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c00610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Yeongjin Kim
- Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Sungmin Joo
- Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Won Kyu Kim
- School of Computational Sciences, Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), Seoul02455, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae-Hyung Jeon
- Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang37673, Republic of Korea
- Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics (APCTP), Pohang37673, Republic of Korea
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10
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Zhao BR, Li B. Molecular Simulation of Hopping Mechanisms of Nanoparticles in Regular Cross-Linked Polymer Networks. J Chem Phys 2022; 157:104901. [DOI: 10.1063/5.0098947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We use coarse-grained simulations to explore the diffusion mechanism of nanoparticles with different sizes at various nanoparticle-polymer interactions in regular cross-linked polymer networks. The long time diffusivities of nanoparticles show a non-monotonic tendency at various nanoparticle-polymer interactions, due to the intermittent hopping of nanoparticles through network cells. The preferred locations of small nanoparticles switch from the cell centers to the corner of cells as they interact with network more strongly, which results in the hopping energy barrier between different cells switching from cell center localization to adsorption on networks. Steric hindrance seriously hampers large nanoparticles from hopping to neighboring network cells, the interactions between nanoparticle and network enhance the network deformability and also affect the hopping of nanoparticles. The multiple constraint mechanisms result in the non-monotonic diffusivities of nanoparticles with different interactions and non-Brownian motions at different time scales. Our work illustrates the hopping mechanisms of nanoparticles in polymer networks from thermodynamic and dynamic points of view.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo-Ran Zhao
- Sun Yat-sen University - Zhuhai Campus, China
| | - Bin Li
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University - Zhuhai Campus, China
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11
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Chen Y, Yan R, Zhao N. Passive and active tracer dynamics in polymer solutions with isotropic-to-nematic phase transition. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:7415-7429. [PMID: 35266498 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp00323f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Macromolecular crowding plays a crucial role in determining the dynamics in a living cell. We adopt Langevin dynamics simulations to investigate the anomalous diffusion dynamics of passive and active particles in a solution of polymer chains with tunable stiffness. The solution's anisotropic feature is modulated by changing both the polymer stiffness and volume fraction, where isotropic-to-nematic phase transition is involved. Our results demonstrate the significant impact of polymer flexibility on the dynamics of both passive and active probes. The distinct diffusion mechanism for an active particle is clarified by the interplay between polymer stiffness, crowdedness and activity. Polymer stiffness leads to a global inhibition effect on passive particle diffusion. The diffusion coefficient exhibits an intriguing non-monotonic variation at increasing polymer stiffness, which is due to the fact that the alignment of polymer chains is beneficial for diffusion along the nematic direction but unfavorable for that in the direction perpendicular to it. In sharp contrast, polymer stiffness plays a dominant role in facilitating active particle diffusion. Self-propulsion of the particle can utilize stiffness-induced elastic interactions more efficiently, which promotes its mobility in both directions. Meanwhile, an active particle might have a stronger ability to take advantage of the polymer alignment, contributing substantially enhanced diffusivity. In addition, the diffusion coefficient of an active particle is subject to a tendency of degeneration against varying volume fraction. This counter-intuitive behavior is due to the contrasting factors that increasing crowdedness induces a lower particle speed but a longer persistent motion time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Chen
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
| | - Ran Yan
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
| | - Nanrong Zhao
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
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12
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Sahoo R, Theeyancheri L, Chakrabarti R. Transport of a self-propelled tracer through a hairy cylindrical channel: interplay of stickiness and activity. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:1310-1318. [PMID: 35060583 DOI: 10.1039/d1sm01693h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Active transport of biomolecules assisted by motor proteins is imperative for the proper functioning of cellular activities. Inspired by the diffusion of active agents in crowded cellular channels, we computationally investigate the transport of an active tracer through a polymer grafted cylindrical channel by varying the activity of the tracer and stickiness of the tracer to the polymers. Our results reveal that the passive tracer exhibits profound subdiffusion with increasing stickiness by exploring deep into the grafted polymeric zone, while purely repulsive one prefers to diffuse through the pore-like space created along the cylindrical axis of the channel. In contrast, the active tracer shows faster dynamics and intermediate superdiffusion even though the tracer preferentially stays close to the dense polymeric region. This observation is further supported by the sharp peaks in the density profile of the probability of radial displacement of the tracer. We discover that the activity plays an important role in deciding the pathway that the tracer takes through the narrow channel. Interestingly, increasing the activity washes out the effect of stickiness. Adding to this, van-Hove functions manifest that the active tracer dynamics deviates from Gaussianity, and the degree of deviation grows with the activity. Our work has direct implications on how effective transportation and delivery of cargo can be achieved through a confined medium where activity, interactions, and crowding are interplaying. Looking ahead, these factors will be crucial for understanding the mechanism of artificial self-powered machines navigating through the cellular channels and performing in vivo challenging tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajiblochan Sahoo
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
| | - Ligesh Theeyancheri
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
| | - Rajarshi Chakrabarti
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
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13
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Jiang H, Hou Z. Nonequilibrium Dynamics of Chemically Active Particles. CHINESE J CHEM 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/cjoc.202100543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Huijun Jiang
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale & Department of Chemical Physics, iChEM, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 China
| | - Zhonghuai Hou
- Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale & Department of Chemical Physics, iChEM, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 China
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14
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Abstract
Polymer-grafted nanoparticles (PGNPs) are an important component of many advanced materials. The interplay between the nanoparticle surface curvature and spatial confinement by neighboring chains produces a complex set of structural and dynamical behaviors in the polymer corona surrounding the nanoparticle. For example, experiments have shown that the inner portion of the corona is more stretched and relaxes more slowly than the outer region. Here, we perform systematic core-modified dissipative particle dynamics (CM-DPD) simulations and analyze the relaxation dynamics using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the monomer coordinates. We find that grafted chains relax more slowly than free chains and that the relaxation time of the grafted chains scales inversely with the confinement strength. For PGNPs in a polymer melt, the relaxation processes are always Rouse-like. However, we observe either Zimm-like or Rouse-like dynamics for PGNPs in solution depending on the confinement strength.
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15
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Sorichetti V, Hugouvieux V, Kob W. Dynamics of Nanoparticles in Polydisperse Polymer Networks: from Free Diffusion to Hopping. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c01394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Valerio Sorichetti
- Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques (LPTMS), CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91405 Orsay, France
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Université Montpellier, CNRS, F-34095 Montpellier, France
- IATE, Université Montpellier, INRAE, Institut Agro, F-34060 Montpellier, France
| | - Virginie Hugouvieux
- IATE, Université Montpellier, INRAE, Institut Agro, F-34060 Montpellier, France
| | - Walter Kob
- Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Université Montpellier, CNRS, F-34095 Montpellier, France
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16
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The Longitudinal Superdiffusive Motion of Block Copolymer in a Tight Nanopore. Polymers (Basel) 2020; 12:polym12122931. [PMID: 33302399 PMCID: PMC7762597 DOI: 10.3390/polym12122931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The structure and dynamic properties of polymer chains in a confined environment were studied by means of the Monte Carlo method. The studied chains were represented by coarse-grained models and embedded into a simple 3D cubic lattice. The chains stood for two-block linear copolymers of different energy of bead-bead interactions. Their behavior was studied in a nanotube formed by four impenetrable surfaces. The long-time unidirectional motion of the chain in the tight nanopore was found to be correlated with the orientation of both parts of the copolymer along the length of the nanopore. A possible mechanism of the anomalous diffusion was proposed on the basis of thermodynamics of the system, more precisely on the free energy barrier of the swapping of positions of both parts of the chain and the impulse of temporary forces induced by variation of the chain conformation. The mean bead and the mass center autocorrelation functions were examined. While the former function behaves classically, the latter indicates the period of time of superdiffusive motion similar to the ballistic motion with the autocorrelation function scaling with the exponent t5/3. A distribution of periods of time of chain diffusion between swapping events was found and discussed. The influence of the nanotube width and the chain length on the polymer diffusivity was studied.
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17
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Joo S, Durang X, Lee OC, Jeon JH. Anomalous diffusion of active Brownian particles cross-linked to a networked polymer: Langevin dynamics simulation and theory. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:9188-9201. [PMID: 32840541 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm01200a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Quantitatively understanding the dynamics of an active Brownian particle (ABP) interacting with a viscoelastic polymer environment is a scientific challenge. It is intimately related to several interdisciplinary topics such as the microrheology of active colloids in a polymer matrix and the athermal dynamics of the in vivo chromosomes or cytoskeletal networks. Based on Langevin dynamics simulation and analytic theory, here we explore such a viscoelastic active system in depth using a star polymer of functionality f with the center cross-linker particle being ABP. We observe that the ABP cross-linker, despite its self-propelled movement, attains an active subdiffusion with the scaling ΔR2(t) ∼ tα with α ≤ 1/2, through the viscoelastic feedback from the polymer. Counter-intuitively, the apparent anomaly exponent α becomes smaller as the ABP is driven by a larger propulsion velocity, but is independent of functionality f or the boundary conditions of the polymer. We set forth an exact theory and show that the motion of the active cross-linker is a Gaussian non-Markovian process characterized by two distinct power-law displacement correlations. At a moderate Péclet number, it seemingly behaves as fractional Brownian motion with a Hurst exponent H = α/2, whereas, at a high Péclet number, the self-propelled noise in the polymer environment leads to a logarithmic growth of the mean squared displacement (∼ln t) and a velocity autocorrelation decaying as -t-2. We demonstrate that the anomalous diffusion of the active cross-linker is precisely described by a fractional Langevin equation with two distinct random noises.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sungmin Joo
- Department of Physics, POSTECH, Pohang, Republic of Korea.
| | - Xavier Durang
- Department of Physics, POSTECH, Pohang, Republic of Korea.
| | - O-Chul Lee
- Department of Physics, POSTECH, Pohang, Republic of Korea.
| | - Jae-Hyung Jeon
- Department of Physics, POSTECH, Pohang, Republic of Korea.
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18
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Theeyancheri L, Chaki S, Samanta N, Goswami R, Chelakkot R, Chakrabarti R. Translational and rotational dynamics of a self-propelled Janus probe in crowded environments. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:8482-8491. [PMID: 32822444 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm00339e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
We computationally investigate the dynamics of a self-propelled Janus probe in crowded environments. The crowding is caused by the presence of viscoelastic polymers or non-viscoelastic disconnected monomers. Our simulations show that the translational as well as rotational mean square displacements have a distinctive three-step growth for fixed values of self-propulsion force, and steadily increase with self-propulsion, irrespective of the nature of the crowder. On the other hand, in the absence of crowders, the rotational dynamics of the Janus probe is independent of self-propulsion force. On replacing the repulsive polymers with sticky ones, translational and rotational mean square displacements of the Janus probe show a sharp drop. Since different faces of a Janus particle interact differently with the environment, we show that the direction of self-propulsion also affects its dynamics. The ratio of long-time translational and rotational diffusivities of the self-propelled probe with a fixed self-propulsion, when plotted against the area fraction of the crowders, passes through a minimum and at higher area fraction merges to its value in the absence of the crowder. This points towards the decoupling of the translational and rotational dynamics of the self-propelled probe at an intermediate area fraction of the crowders. However, such translational-rotational decoupling is absent for passive probes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ligesh Theeyancheri
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Powai 400076, India.
| | - Subhasish Chaki
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Powai 400076, India.
| | - Nairhita Samanta
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Powai 400076, India.
| | - Rohit Goswami
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Powai 400076, India.
| | - Raghunath Chelakkot
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Powai 400076, India.
| | - Rajarshi Chakrabarti
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Powai 400076, India.
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19
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Kaiser M, Sánchez PA, Samanta N, Chakrabarti R, Kantorovich SS. Directing the Diffusion of a Nonmagnetic Nanosized Active Particle with External Magnetic Fields. J Phys Chem B 2020; 124:8188-8197. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c05791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kaiser
- Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Pedro A. Sánchez
- Ural Federal University, Lenin Av. 51, Ekaterinburg 620000, Russian Federation
- Wolfgang Pauli Institute c/o University of Vienna, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Nairhita Samanta
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400076, India
| | - Rajarshi Chakrabarti
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400076, India
- Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India
| | - Sofia S. Kantorovich
- Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Ural Federal University, Lenin Av. 51, Ekaterinburg 620000, Russian Federation
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20
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Chen Y, Ma R, Qian X, Zhang R, Huang X, Xu H, Zhou M, Liu J. Nanoparticle Mobility within Permanently Cross-Linked Polymer Networks. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c00334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Yulong Chen
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Rui Ma
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Xin Qian
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Ruoyu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Bio-based Polymeric Materials Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
| | - Xifu Huang
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
- Ningbo Detai Chemical Co., Ltd., Ningbo 315204, China
| | - Haohao Xu
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Mi Zhou
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
| | - Jun Liu
- Key Laboratory of Beijing City on Preparation and Processing of Novel Polymer Materials, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
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21
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Liu X, Jiang H, Hou Z. Non-monotonic dependence of polymer chain dynamics on active crowder size. J Chem Phys 2020; 152:204906. [PMID: 32486672 DOI: 10.1063/5.0007570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Configuration dynamics of flexible polymer chains is of ubiquitous importance in many biological processes. Here, we investigate a polymer chain immersed in a bath of size-changed active particles in two dimensional space using Langevin dynamics simulations. Particular attention is paid to how the radius of gyration Rg of the polymer chain depends on the size σc of active crowders. We find that Rg shows nontrivial non-monotonic dependence on σc: The chain first swells upon increasing σc, reaching a fully expanded state with maximum Rg, and then, Rg decreases until the chain collapses to a compact coil state if the crowder is large enough. Interestingly, the chain may oscillate between a collapse state and a stretched state at moderate crowder size. Analysis shows that it is the competition between two effects of active particles, one stretching the chain from inside due to persistence motion and the other compressing the chain from outside, that leads to the non-monotonic dependence. Besides, the diffusion of the polymer chain also shows nontrivial non-monotonic dependence on σc. Our results demonstrate the important interplay between particle activity and size associated with polymer configurations in active crowding environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinshuang Liu
- Department of Chemical Physics and Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscales, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Huijun Jiang
- Department of Chemical Physics and Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscales, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Zhonghuai Hou
- Department of Chemical Physics and Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscales, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
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22
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Cao X, Zhang B, Zhao N. Contrastive factors of activity and crowding on conformational properties of a flexible polymer. Chem Phys Lett 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2020.137213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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23
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Tejedor AR, Ramírez J. Dynamics of entangled polymers subjected to reptation and drift. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:3154-3168. [PMID: 32159579 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm00056f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
In this work we formulate a model to study the dynamical response of entangled polymers subjected to a constant drift. The drift may originate from an internal activity that acts along the primitive path of the tube. Here, we expand our previous work (A. R. Tejedor and J. Ramirez, Macromolecules, 2019, 52, 8788-8792) and solve analytically the most significant observables of the theory, providing explicit results to observables not considered previously, such as the tangent-tangent correlation function and the dynamic structure factor. These analytical results are compared and verified by means of Brownian dynamics simulations of the tube model. Interestingly, while the mean squared displacement of the chain segments is always subdiffusive, the center of mass shows a superdiffusive regime when the magnitude of the drift is significant. We provide scaling arguments to explain this phenomenon. We also consider the effect of contour-length fluctuations and describe two different approaches to introduce a drift using active particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés R Tejedor
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain.
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24
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Kumar P, Theeyancheri L, Chaki S, Chakrabarti R. Transport of probe particles in a polymer network: effects of probe size, network rigidity and probe-polymer interaction. SOFT MATTER 2019; 15:8992-9002. [PMID: 31681926 DOI: 10.1039/c9sm01822k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Fundamental understanding of the effect of microscopic parameters on the dynamics of probe particles in different complex environments has wide implications. Examples include diffusion of proteins in biological hydrogels, porous media, polymer matrix, etc. Here, we use extensive molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the dynamics of the probe particle in a polymer network on a diamond lattice, which provides substantial crowding to mimic the cellular environment. Our simulations show that the dynamics of the probe increasingly becomes restricted, non-Gaussian and subdiffusive on increasing the network rigidity, binding affinity and probe size. In addition, the velocity autocorrelation functions show negative dips owing to the viscoelasticity and caging due to the surrounding network. These observations go with the general experimental findings. Importantly, for a probe particle of size comparable to the mesh size, unrestricted motion engulfing large length scales has been observed. This happens with a more flexible polymer network, which is easily pushed by the bigger probe. On increasing the rigidity of the network, the bigger probe can not efficiently push the network and as a result the long tail disappears. Our study gives a general qualitative picture of the transport of probes in a gel-like medium, as encountered in different contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Praveen Kumar
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India.
| | - Ligesh Theeyancheri
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India.
| | - Subhasish Chaki
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India.
| | - Rajarshi Chakrabarti
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India.
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25
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Liu X, Jiang H, Hou Z. Configuration dynamics of a flexible polymer chain in a bath of chiral active particles. J Chem Phys 2019; 151:174904. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5125607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Xinshuang Liu
- Department of Chemical Physics and Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscales, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Huijun Jiang
- Department of Chemical Physics and Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscales, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Zhonghuai Hou
- Department of Chemical Physics and Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscales, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
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26
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Yuan C, Chen A, Zhang B, Zhao N. Activity–crowding coupling effect on the diffusion dynamics of a self-propelled particle in polymer solutions. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:24112-24125. [DOI: 10.1039/c9cp04498a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The anomalous diffusion dynamics of an active particle in polymer solutions is studied based on a Langevin Brownian dynamics simulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengli Yuan
- College of Chemistry
- Sichuan University
- Chengdu 610064
- China
| | - Anpu Chen
- College of Chemistry
- Sichuan University
- Chengdu 610064
- China
| | - Bingjie Zhang
- College of Chemistry
- Sichuan University
- Chengdu 610064
- China
| | - Nanrong Zhao
- College of Chemistry
- Sichuan University
- Chengdu 610064
- China
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