Adsorption of Semiflexible Polymers in Cylindrical Tubes

Area of Science:

• Polymer physics
• Soft matter science
• Surface science

Background:

• Understanding polymer behavior in confined geometries is crucial for materials science and nanotechnology.
• Wormlike chains exhibit unique conformational properties influenced by confinement and surface interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the conformational changes of wormlike chains within cylindrical pores with attractive walls.
• To analyze the effects of varying pore radius and wall potential strength on chain behavior.
• To elucidate the interplay between pore geometry and polymer chain stiffness.

Main Methods:

• Molecular dynamics simulations using a coarse-grained model.
• Analysis of local properties: surface-bound fraction, bond-orientational order parameter, radial density distribution.
• Evaluation of global chain extensions (parallel and perpendicular to the cylinder axis).

Main Results:

• Observed nonmonotonic convergence of chain properties towards those of planar adsorption.
• Identified a conflict between pore surface curvature and chain stiffness as the cause.
• Characterized the distribution of monomeric units and chain extensions within the pores.

Conclusions:

• Pore curvature and chain stiffness significantly influence polymer adsorption in cylindrical confinement.
• Conformational behavior deviates from simple planar adsorption models.
• Provides insights into the interpretation of polymer adsorption structures (trains, loops, tails).