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Crowded, Confined, and Frustrated: Dynamics of Molecules Tethered to Nanoparticles

Author
Agarwal, Praveen; Kim, Sung A; Archer, Lynden
Abstract
Above a critical chemistry-dependent molecular weight, all polymer molecules entangle and, as a result, exhibit slow dynamics, enhanced viscosity, and elasticity. Herein we report on the dynamics of low molecular weight polymers tethered to nanoparticles and find that even conventionally unentangled chains manifest dynamical features similar to entangled, long-chain molecules. Our findings are shown to imply that crowding and confinement of polymers on particles produce topological constraints analogous to those in entangled systems.
Sponsorship
This work was supported by the National Science
Foundation Grant No. DMR-1006323 and by Grant
No. KUS-C1-018-02, made by King Abdullah University
of Science and Technology (KAUST). Facilities available
though the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR)
were used for this study
Date Issued
2012-12-19Publisher
Physical Review Letters
Subject
Nanoparticles; Polymers
Previously Published As
Agarwal, Praveen, Sung A. Kim, and Lynden A. Archer. "Crowded, Confined, and Frustrated: Dynamics of Molecules Tethered to Nanoparticles." Physical Review Letters. Print.
Type
article