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Updated: Jun 28, 2025

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level
Published on: September 26, 2016
Supercoiled ring polymers under shear flow
Christoph Schneck1,2, Jan Smrek1, Christos N Likos1
1Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria. christoph.schneck@ehu.eus.
Abstract:
We apply monomer-resolved computer simulations of supercoiled ring polymers under shear, taking full account of the hydrodynamic interactions, accompanied, in parallel, by simulations in which these are switched off. The combination of bending and torsional rigidities inherent in these polymers, in conjunction with hydrodynamics, has a profound impact on their flow properties. In contrast to their flexible counterparts, which dramatically deform and inflate under shear [Liebetreu et al., Commun. Mater. 2020, 1, 4], supercoiled rings undergo only weak changes in their overall shape and they display both a reduced propensity to tumbling (at fixed Weissenberg number) and a much stronger orientational resistance with respect to their flexible counterparts. In the presence of hydrodynamic interactions, the coupling of the polymer to solvent flow is capable of bringing about a topological transformation of writhe to twist at strong shear upon conservation of the overall linking number.
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