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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Anomalous critical slowdown at a first order phase transition in single polymer chains
Leonid I. KlushinDadong YanShuangshuang ZhangFriederike SchmidAlexander M. SkvortsovShuanhu Qisubject
PhysicsPhase transitionCondensed matter physicsSlowdownFOS: Physical sciencesGeneral Physics and Astronomy02 engineering and technologyCondensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter010402 general chemistry021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology01 natural sciencesPower law0104 chemical sciencesChain (algebraic topology)Transition pointBrownian dynamicsJumpSoft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)Physical and Theoretical Chemistry0210 nano-technologyMixing (physics)description
Using Brownian Dynamics, we study the dynamical behavior of a polymer grafted onto an adhesive surface close to the mechanically induced adsorption-stretching transition. Even though the transition is first order, (in the infinite chain length limit, the stretching degree of the chain jumps discontinuously), the characteristic relaxation time is found to grow according to a power law as the transition point is approached. We present a dynamic effective interface model which reproduces these observations and provides an excellent quantitaive description of the simulations data. The generic nature of the theoretical model suggests that the unconventional mixing of features that are characteristic for first-order transitions (a jump in an order parameter) and features that are characteristic of critical points (anomalous slowdown) may be a common phenomenon in force-driven phase transitions of macromolecules.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-08-17 | The Journal of Chemical Physics |