Metastable Knots in Confined Semiflexible Chains
We study the size distribution of spontaneous knots on semiflexible chains confined in square cross-section channels using Monte Carlo simulations. The most probable knot size, i.e. the metastable knot size, is found to vary nonmonotonically with the channel size. In the case of weak confinement, th...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
American Chemical Society (ACS)
2016
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101173 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1687-4522 |
| _version_ | 1826189799208255488 |
|---|---|
| author | Dai, Liang Renner, C. Benjamin Doyle, Patrick S. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering Dai, Liang Renner, C. Benjamin Doyle, Patrick S. |
| author_sort | Dai, Liang |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We study the size distribution of spontaneous knots on semiflexible chains confined in square cross-section channels using Monte Carlo simulations. The most probable knot size, i.e. the metastable knot size, is found to vary nonmonotonically with the channel size. In the case of weak confinement, the metastable knot size is larger than the knot size in bulk because the segments within the knot feel less channel confinement than the segments outside the knot, and the channel pushes the segments into knot cores to reduce the overall free energy. Conversely, in the case of strong confinement, the metastable knot size is smaller than the one in bulk because the segments within the knot experience more channel confinement, and the channel expels segments from the knot core. We demonstrate that a simple theory can capture this nonmonotonic behavior and quantitatively explain the metastable knot size as a function of the channel size. These results may have implications for tuning the channel size to either generate or screen knots. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:22:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/101173 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:22:26Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | American Chemical Society (ACS) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1011732022-09-23T12:31:47Z Metastable Knots in Confined Semiflexible Chains Dai, Liang Renner, C. Benjamin Doyle, Patrick S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering Renner, C. Benjamin Doyle, Patrick S. We study the size distribution of spontaneous knots on semiflexible chains confined in square cross-section channels using Monte Carlo simulations. The most probable knot size, i.e. the metastable knot size, is found to vary nonmonotonically with the channel size. In the case of weak confinement, the metastable knot size is larger than the knot size in bulk because the segments within the knot feel less channel confinement than the segments outside the knot, and the channel pushes the segments into knot cores to reduce the overall free energy. Conversely, in the case of strong confinement, the metastable knot size is smaller than the one in bulk because the segments within the knot experience more channel confinement, and the channel expels segments from the knot core. We demonstrate that a simple theory can capture this nonmonotonic behavior and quantitatively explain the metastable knot size as a function of the channel size. These results may have implications for tuning the channel size to either generate or screen knots. Singapore. National Research Foundation (Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CBET-1335938) 2016-02-12T18:10:48Z 2016-02-12T18:10:48Z 2015-04 2015-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0024-9297 1520-5835 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101173 Dai, Liang, C. Benjamin Renner, and Patrick S. Doyle. “Metastable Knots in Confined Semiflexible Chains.” Macromolecules 48, no. 8 (April 28, 2015): 2812–18. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1687-4522 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5b00280 Macromolecules Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Chemical Society (ACS) MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | Dai, Liang Renner, C. Benjamin Doyle, Patrick S. Metastable Knots in Confined Semiflexible Chains |
| title | Metastable Knots in Confined Semiflexible Chains |
| title_full | Metastable Knots in Confined Semiflexible Chains |
| title_fullStr | Metastable Knots in Confined Semiflexible Chains |
| title_full_unstemmed | Metastable Knots in Confined Semiflexible Chains |
| title_short | Metastable Knots in Confined Semiflexible Chains |
| title_sort | metastable knots in confined semiflexible chains |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101173 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1687-4522 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dailiang metastableknotsinconfinedsemiflexiblechains AT rennercbenjamin metastableknotsinconfinedsemiflexiblechains AT doylepatricks metastableknotsinconfinedsemiflexiblechains |