Bewegung und Konformationseigenschaften elektrisch geladener Polymerketten in Lösung unter Einwirkung eines äußeren Feldes

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jens-Uwe Sommer
• Subject Area: Experimental and Theoretical Physics of Polymers
• Term: from 2008 to 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 84109192

We are going to investigate the relation between conformational properties, polymer ion interactions and polymer mobility of charged linear polymers under the influence of an applied field in free solution and in confining environments using computer simulations and theoretical models. We will consider the many-body problem taking into account the essential aspects of electrolytebuffer- solution (strongly charged polyelectrolyte-chain, counter-ions and salt ions) including hydrodynamic effects. As a result of the driven, complex system the chain could deform during migration and the distribution of the segments orientation can deviate from the equilibrium state. Analytical models and simulations will be used to gain insight into the conformation-dependent motion of the polyelectrolytes. We will investigate various electric fields regimes, including high fields which are normally used in microfluidic devices, and corroborate our results with both electrical and optical measurements available from published data on model polyelectrolytes, such as DNA. Furthermore, we will consider the effect of constrained geometries including the effect of charged surfaces. These results are expected to be of relevance in present-day lab-on-a-chip electrophoretic systems.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants