Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
Published on: May 20, 2014
Partitioning of a polymer chain between a confining cavity and a gel
Stefan Tsonchev1, Rob D Coalson, Anthony Duncan
1Department of Chemistry, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois 60625, USA.
Abstract:
A lattice field theory approach to the statistical mechanics of charged polymers in electrolyte solutions [S. Tsonchev, R. D. Coalson, and A. Duncan, Phys. Rev. E 60, 4257 (1999)] is applied to the study of a polymer chain contained in a spherical cavity but able to diffuse into a surrounding gel. The distribution of the polymer chain between the cavity and the gel is described by its partition coefficient, which is computed as a function of the number of monomers in the chain, the monomer charge, and the ion concentrations in the solution.
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Polymer Classification: Architecture
Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism
Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Chain Branching
Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism
DNA Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
Gel extraction follows five major steps: running gel electrophoresis to separate fragments, isolating the individual bands, extracting DNA from those bands, and removing the dye and salts from the extracted mixture to obtain pure DNA.
In cloning experiments, both the insert and vector DNA...

