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DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers
Published on: October 25, 2017
Phase diagram and effective shape of semiflexible colloidal rods and biopolymers
M Dennison1, M Dijkstra, R van Roij
1Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
We study suspensions of semiflexible colloidal rods and biopolymers using an Onsager-type second-virial functional for a segmented-chain model. For mixtures of thin and thick fd virus particles, we calculate full phase diagrams, finding quantitative agreement with experimental observations. We show that flexibility, which renders the rods effectively shorter and thicker depending on the state point, is crucial to understanding the topologies of the phase diagrams. We also calculate the stretching of wormlike micelles in a host fd virus suspension, finding agreement with experiments.
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