Semiflexible Polymers in Spherical Confinement: Bipolar Orientational Order Versus Tennis Ball States

Arash Nikoubashman, Daniel A. Vega, Kurt Binder, and Andrey Milchev
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 217803 – Published 26 May 2017
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Abstract

Densely packed semiflexible polymers with contour length L confined in spheres with radius R of the same order as L cannot exhibit uniform nematic order. Depending on the chain stiffness (which we vary over a wide range), highly distorted structures form with topological defects on the sphere surface. These structures are completely different from previously observed ones of very long chains winding around the inner surface of spheres and from nematic droplets. At high densities, a thin shell of polymers close to the sphere surface exhibits a tennis ball texture due to the confinement-induced gradual bending of polymer bonds. In contrast, when the contour length of the chains is significantly smaller than the radius of the confining sphere, a few bent smectic layers form in the sphere. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate these complex structures, and suitable order parameters characterizing them are proposed.

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  • Received 1 March 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.217803

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsPolymers & Soft Matter

Authors & Affiliations

Arash Nikoubashman1,*, Daniel A. Vega2,1, Kurt Binder1, and Andrey Milchev3,1

  • 1Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany
  • 2Department of Physics, Universidad Nacional del Sur-IFISUR-CONICET, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina
  • 3Institute for Physical Chemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria

  • *anikouba@uni-mainz.de

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Issue

Vol. 118, Iss. 21 — 26 May 2017

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