Simulation of adsorption of deformable particles modelled as cyclic lattice chains. A simple statistical model of protein adsorption

Abstract

The influence of particle deformability on adsorption at a plane surface has been investigated by Monte Carlo simulation of a two-dimensional system of cyclic lattice chains. Each deformable particle is a necklace of identical segments, and its adsorption behaviour is dependent on the balance between segment–surface interactions and segment–segment interactions, both intraparticle (on the same chain) and interparticle (on different chains). Numerical results are reported for an isolated chain with repulsive or attractive intersegmental interactions, as well as for a concentrated system of particles with repulsive intraparticle intersegmental interactions. Attention is directed towards the effects of adsorption energy and particle concentration on the structure of adsorbed particles. The relevance of this simple statistical model to the adsorption of globular protein molecules is discussed.