TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of molecular architecture on ring polymer dynamics in semidilute linear polymer solutions
AU - Zhou, Yuecheng
AU - Hsiao, Kai Wen
AU - Regan, Kathryn E.
AU - Kong, Dejie
AU - McKenna, Gregory B.
AU - Robertson-Anderson, Rae M.
AU - Schroeder, Charles M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Wei Ge for help with data analysis. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Award CBET-1604038 (Y.Z. and C.M.S.) and partially supported by the NSF through the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) DMR-1720633 (Y.Z. and C.M.S.), a PPG-MRL graduate research assistantship award (Y.Z.), NSF Award CBET-1603925 (K.E.R. and R.M.R-A.), and NSF Award CBET-1603943 (D.K. and G.B.M.). G.B.M. and D.K. thank Dr. Michael San Francisco for his enthusiastic support and use of his biology lab facilities.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Understanding the dynamics of ring polymers is a particularly challenging yet interesting problem in soft materials. Despite recent progress, a complete understanding of the nonequilibrium behavior of ring polymers has not yet been achieved. In this work, we directly observe the flow dynamics of DNA-based rings in semidilute linear polymer solutions using single molecule techniques. Our results reveal strikingly large conformational fluctuations of rings in extensional flow long after the initial transient stretching process has terminated, which is observed even at extremely low concentrations (0.025 c * ) of linear polymers in the background solution. The magnitudes and characteristic timescales of ring conformational fluctuations are determined as functions of flow strength and polymer concentration. Our results suggest that ring conformational fluctuations arise due to transient threading of linear polymers through open ring chains stretching in flow.
AB - Understanding the dynamics of ring polymers is a particularly challenging yet interesting problem in soft materials. Despite recent progress, a complete understanding of the nonequilibrium behavior of ring polymers has not yet been achieved. In this work, we directly observe the flow dynamics of DNA-based rings in semidilute linear polymer solutions using single molecule techniques. Our results reveal strikingly large conformational fluctuations of rings in extensional flow long after the initial transient stretching process has terminated, which is observed even at extremely low concentrations (0.025 c * ) of linear polymers in the background solution. The magnitudes and characteristic timescales of ring conformational fluctuations are determined as functions of flow strength and polymer concentration. Our results suggest that ring conformational fluctuations arise due to transient threading of linear polymers through open ring chains stretching in flow.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064439270&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-019-09627-7
DO - 10.1038/s41467-019-09627-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 30988290
AN - SCOPUS:85064439270
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 10
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 1753
ER -