Search results for "Density Functional Theory"
showing 10 items of 981 documents
Semiflexible polymers confined in a slit pore with attractive walls: two-dimensional liquid crystalline order versus capillary nematization
2017
Semiflexible polymers under good solvent conditions interacting with attractive planar surfaces are investigated by Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations and classical Density Functional Theory (DFT). A bead-spring type potential complemented by a bending potential is used, allowing variation of chain stiffness from completely flexible coils to rod-like polymers whose persistence length by far exceeds their contour length. Solvent is only implicitly included, monomer-monomer interactions being purely repulsive, while two types of attractive wall-monomer interactions are considered: (i) a strongly attractive Mie-type potential, appropriate for a strictly structureless wall, and (ii) a corrugat…
Phase behavior of flexible and semiflexible polymers in solvents of varying quality.
2019
The interplay of nematic order and phase separation in solutions of semiflexible polymers in solvents of variable quality is investigated by density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We studied coarse-grained models, with a bond-angle potential to control chain stiffness, for chain lengths comparable to the persistence length of the chains. We varied both the density of the monomeric units and the effective temperature that controls the quality of the implicit solvent. For very stiff chains, only a single transition from an isotropic fluid to a nematic is found, with a phase diagram of "swan-neck" topology. For less stiff chains, however, also unmixing between…
A new insight into the isotropic–nematic phase transition in lyotropic solutions of semiflexible polymers: density-functional theory tested by molecu…
2016
Semiflexible polymers in solution are studied for a wide range of both contour length L and persistence length lp as a function of monomer concentration under good solvent conditions. Both density-functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation methods are used, and a very good agreement between both techniques is observed for rather stiff polymers. Evidence for a new mechanism of order parameter fluctuations in the nematic phase is presented, namely collective deformations of bundles of wormlike chains twisted around each other, and the typical wavelengths and amplitudes of these modes are estimated. These long wavelength fluctuations cause a reduction of the order parameter…
Nematic order in solutions of semiflexible polymers: Hairpins, elastic constants, and the nematic-smectic transition
2018
Coarse-grained models of lyotropic solutions of semiflexible polymers are studied by both molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations, using an implicit solvent bead-spring model with a bond-angle potential. We systematically vary the monomer density, persistence length, and contour length over a wide range and explore the full range from the isotropic-nematic transition to the nematic-smectic transition. In the nematic regime, we span the entire regime from rigid-rod like polymers to thin wormlike chains, confined in effective straight tubes caused by the collective nematic effective ordering field. We show that the distribution of bond angles relative to the …
Semiflexible polymers under good solvent conditions interacting with repulsive walls.
2016
Solutions of semiflexible polymers confined by repulsive planar walls are studied by density functional theory and Molecular Dynamics simulations, to clarify the competition between the chain alignment favored by the wall and the depletion caused by the monomer-wall repulsion. A coarse-grained bead-spring model with bond bending potential is studied, varying both the contour length and the persistence length of the polymers, as well as the monomer concentration in the solution (good solvent conditions are assumed throughout, and solvent molecules are not included explicitly). The profiles of monomer density and pressure tensor components near the wall are studied, and the surface tension of…
Conformations and orientational ordering of semiflexible polymers in spherical confinement.
2017
Semiflexible polymers in lyotropic solution confined inside spherical nanoscopic “containers” with repulsive walls are studied by molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory, as a first step to model confinement effects on stiff polymers inside of miniemulsions, vesicles, and cells. It is shown that the depletion effects caused by the monomer-wall repulsion depend distinctly on the radius R of the sphere. Further, nontrivial orientational effects occur when R, the persistence length ℓp, and the contour length L of the polymers are of similar magnitude. At intermediate densities, a “shell” of wall-attached chains is forming, such that the monomers belonging to those chains a…
Understanding the properties of liquid-crystalline polymers by computational modeling
2020
Abstract A topical review of recent theoretical work on the properties of lyotropic solutions and melts containing semiflexible polymers in thermal equilibrium is given, with a focus on the liquid-crystalline and smectic order of these systems in the bulk and under confinement. Starting with a discussion of single chain properties in terms of the Kratky-Porod worm-like chain model and its limitations, extensions along the lines of Onsager’s theory for the isotropic-nematic transition of solutions of hard rods are briefly reviewed. This discussion is followed by a review of recent Molecular Dynamics simulations and classical Density Functional Theory calculations. It is argued that, even in …
Tetramethyl-Bis(ethylenedithio)-Tetrathiafulvalene (TM-BEDT-TTF) Revisited: Crystal Structures, Chiroptical Properties, Theoretical Calculations, and…
2013
The (S,S,S,S) and (R,R,R,R) enantiomers of tetramethyl-bis(ethylenedithio)-tetrathiafulvalene (TM-BEDT-TTF) show equatorial conformation for the four methyl groups in the solid state, according to the single-crystal X-ray analyses. Theoretical calculations at the Density Functional Theory (DFT) and time-dependent (TD) DFT levels indicate higher gas phase stability for the axial conformer than the equatorial one by 1.25kcal center dot mole-1 and allow the assignment of the UV-vis and circular dichroism transitions. A complete series of radical cation salts of 1:1 stoichiometry with the triiodide anion I3- was obtained by electrocrystallization of both enantiopure and racemic forms of the don…
Comparative Structural Studies of 4-Diazopyrazole Derivatives by X-Ray Diffraction and Theoretical Investigation
2005
The X-Ray crystal and molecular structures of the 4-pyrazol derivatives 3-methyl-4-diazo-5-benzamido-1H-pyrazole (4) and 3-benzamido-5-methyl-1H-pyrazole (3) have been determined. A dimeric structure has been found for the first and polymeric for the second. A comparison of 4 with 1,3-dimethyl-4-diazo-5-benzamido-lH-pyrazole (2) shows differences in the geometrical parameters of the pyrazole ring due to electron delocalization in 2 consequent to the nitrogen negative charge in the latter. Theoretical investigation at the density functional theory (DFT) level shows difference in the molecular electronic distribution of 2 and 4, in agreement with the structural parameters and the IR stretchin…
Dimerization of (+)-Lysergic Acid Esters
2007
Dimer isomer mixtures, characterized by a bridgehead C8-C8' bond, (6a-7a; 6b-7b) were obtained from (+)-lysergic acid methyl or ethyl ester (1b; 1c) in a solution of methanol or ethanol. The isomers were separated, and their structures were determined by detailed NMR measurements and X-ray analysis. Density functional theory was applied to provide insight into the reaction mechanism. Based on an extended examination and the theoretical calculations, a plausible reaction sequence leading to dimers is also presented. The proposed mechanism has been verified by detecting the formation of the superoxide radical anion (O 2 * -).