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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Investigating Single Molecule Adhesion by Atomic Force Spectroscopy
Published on: February 27, 2015
Conformational mechanics of polymer adsorption transitions at attractive substrates
Monika Möddel1, Michael Bachmann, Wolfhard Janke
1Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. Monika.Moeddel@itp.uni-leipzig.de
Abstract:
Conformational phases of a semiflexible off-lattice homopolymer model near an attractive substrate are investigated by means of multicanonical computer simulations. In our polymer-substrate model, nonbonded pairs of monomers as well as monomers and the substrate interact via attractive van der Waals forces. To characterize conformational phases of this hybrid system, we analyze thermal fluctuations of energetic and structural quantities, as well as adequate docking parameters. Introducing a solvent parameter related to the strength of the surface attraction, we construct and discuss the complete solubility-temperature phase diagram. Apart from the main phases of adsorbed and desorbed conformations, we identify several other phase transitions such as the freezing transition between energy-dominated crystalline low-temperature structures and globular entropy-dominated conformations.
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