Issue 18, 2024

Supercoiled ring polymers under shear flow

Abstract

We apply monomer-resolved computer simulations of supercoiled ring polymers under shear, taking full account of the hydrodynamic interactions, accompanied, in parallel, by simulations in which these are switched off. The combination of bending and torsional rigidities inherent in these polymers, in conjunction with hydrodynamics, has a profound impact on their flow properties. In contrast to their flexible counterparts, which dramatically deform and inflate under shear [Liebetreu et al., Commun. Mater. 2020, 1, 4], supercoiled rings undergo only weak changes in their overall shape and they display both a reduced propensity to tumbling (at fixed Weissenberg number) and a much stronger orientational resistance with respect to their flexible counterparts. In the presence of hydrodynamic interactions, the coupling of the polymer to solvent flow is capable of bringing about a topological transformation of writhe to twist at strong shear upon conservation of the overall linking number.

Graphical abstract: Supercoiled ring polymers under shear flow

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Aug 2023
Accepted
28 Mar 2024
First published
28 Mar 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale, 2024,16, 8880-8899

Supercoiled ring polymers under shear flow

C. Schneck, J. Smrek, C. N. Likos and A. Zöttl, Nanoscale, 2024, 16, 8880 DOI: 10.1039/D3NR04258H

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