Investigating the interaction of stretched, immobilized polyelectrolytes with external electric fields and fluid flows in presence of confined micro-geometries

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Steffen Hardt; Professor Dr. Christian Holm
• Subject Area: Experimental and Theoretical Physics of Polymers ; Preparatory and Physical Chemistry of Polymers ; Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: from 2012 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 234079989

• Final Report Year: 2019

Final Report Abstract

In summary, we gained important knowledge on fundamental aspects of polymer physics. Concerning the collaboration between the groups of Prof. Hardt and the group of Prof. Holm we were very successful in studying the stretching and relaxation behavior of tethered polyelectrolytes in confinement, and directly compare experimental results to simulations. Furthermore, the investigation of important electrostatic and -kinetic effects as well as hydrodynamics in the field of polyelectrolytes lead to interesting new findings and developments of numerical methods.

Publications

• “Lattice-Boltzmann simulations of the electrophoretic stretching of polyelectrolytes: The importance of hydrodynamic interactions”. In: The Journal of Chemical Physics 140.16, 164904 (2014), p. 164904
  Owen A. Hickey, Christian Holm, and Jens Smiatek
  
• “Mobility Reversal of Polyelectrolyte-Grafted Colloids in Monovalent Salt Solutions”. In: Physical Review Letters 113 (23 Dec. 2014), p. 238301
  Shervin Raafatnia, Owen A. Hickey, and Christian Holm
  
• “Electrophoresis of a Spherical Polyelectrolyte-Grafted Colloid in Monovalent Salt Solutions: Comparison of Molecular Dynamics Simulations with Theory and Numerical Calculations”. In: Macromolecules 48.3 (2015), pp. 775–787
  Shervin Raafatnia, Owen A. Hickey, and Christian Holm
  
• “Importance of varying permittivity on the conductivity of polyelectrolyte solutions”. In: Physical Review Letters 115 (11 Sept. 2015), p. 118301
  F. Fahrenberger, O. A. Hickey, J. Smiatek, and C. Holm
  
• “Electricfield-induced stretching of surface-tethered polyelectrolytes in a microchannel”. In: Physical Review E 96.3 (2017), p. 032503
  Tamal Roy, Kai Szuttor, Jens Smiatek, Christian Holm, and Steffen Hardt
  
• “Stretching of surface-tethered polymers in pressure-driven flow under confinement”. In: Soft Matter 13 (2017), pp. 6189–6196
  Tamal Roy, Kai Szuttor, Jens Smiatek, Christian Holm, and Steffen Hardt
  
• “The stretching force on a tethered polymer in pressure-driven flow”. In: The Journal of Chemical Physics 147.3 (2017), p. 034902
  Kai Szuttor, Tamal Roy, Steffen Hardt, Christian Holm, and Jens Smiatek
  
• “From the Atomistic to the Macromolecular Scale: Distinct Simulation Approaches for Polyelectrolyte Solutions”. In: Handbook of Materials Modeling: Methods: Theory and Modeling (2018), pp. 1–15
  Jens Smiatek and Christian Holm
  
• “Relaxation of surface-tethered polymers under moderate confinement”. In: Soft matter 14.38 (2018), pp. 7926–7933
  Johannes Hartmann, Tamal Roy, Kai Szuttor, Jens Smiatek, Christian Holm, and Steffen Hardt