Search results for "NODAL"
showing 10 items of 264 documents
Monte Carlo studies of polymer interdiffusion and spinodal decomposition: A review
1991
Abstract Putting a layer of polymer A on top of a layer of polymer B, the broadening of the interfacial profile is observed in the framework of a lattice model (‘bond fluctuation method’). The interdiffusion constant is studied as a function of chain length, vacancy concentration, and interaction energy between unlike monomers, and a comparison with pertinent theoretical predictions is made. A lattice model where polymers are represented as self-avoiding walks on a simple cubic lattice is used to model ‘spinodal decomposition’, i.e. phase separation by ‘uphill diffusion’ in the unstable part of the phase diagram of a polymer mixture. For chain lengths N ≤ 32, the linearized Cahn-like theory…
Effect of T-R conformational change on sickle-cell hemoglobin interactions and aggregation
2004
We compare the role of a conformational switch and that of a point mutation in the thermodynamic stability of a protein solution and in the consequent propensity toward aggregation. We study sickle-cell hemoglobin (HbS), the beta6 Glu-Val point mutant of adult human hemoglobin (HbA), in its R (CO-liganded) conformation, and compare its aggregation properties to those of both HbS and HbA in their T (unliganded) conformation. Static and dynamic light scattering measurements performed for various hemoglobin concentrations showed critical divergences with mean field exponents as temperature was increased. This allowed determining spinodal data points T(S)(c) by extrapolation. These points were …
Kinetics of phase separation in thin films: simulations for the diffusive case.
2005
We study the diffusion-driven kinetics of phase separation of a symmetric binary mixture (AB), confined in a thin-film geometry between two parallel walls. We consider cases where (a) both walls preferentially attract the same component (A), and (b) one wall attracts A and the other wall attracts B (with the same strength). We focus on the interplay of phase separation and wetting at the walls, which is referred to as {\it surface-directed spinodal decomposition} (SDSD). The formation of SDSD waves at the two surfaces, with wave-vectors oriented perpendicular to them, often results in a metastable layered state (also referred to as ``stratified morphology''). This state is reminiscent of th…
Phase behaviour of poly(vinyl methyl ether)-cross-polystyrene semi-interpenetrating networks
1990
Semi-interpenetrating polymer networks of varying composition are prepared by crosslinking polystyrene containing a small number of maleic anhydride groups (4.8 mol% of MA units) with hexamethylene-diamine (HMDA) in the presence of linear poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME). Lightly crosslinked samples are homogeneous at room temperature and show a phase behaviour similar to uncrosslinked blends, i.e. lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behaviour. The influence of crosslinking on the phase behaviour has been studied by small angle light scattering (SALS) and turbidity measurements. The cloud point strongly depends on the heating rate. The presence of the network reduces the stable single…
Self-Assembly of Polymeric Particles in Poiseuille Flow: A Hybrid Lattice Boltzmann/External Potential Dynamics Simulation Study
2017
We present a hybrid simulation method which allows one to study the dynamical evolution of self-assembling (co)polymer solutions in the presence of hydrodynamic interactions. The method combines an established dynamic density functional theory for polymers that accounts for the nonlocal character of chain dynamics at the level of the Rouse model, the external potential dynamics (EPD) model, with an established Navier–Stokes solver, the Lattice Boltzmann (LB) method. We apply the method to study the self-assembly of nanoparticles and vesicles in two-dimensional copolymer solutions in a typical microchannel Poiseuille flow profile. The simulations start from fully mixed systems which are sudd…
Order-disorder-and order-order-transitions in AB and ABC block copolymers: description by a simple model
1996
Based on the description of AB-block copolymers as micellar structures given by Semenov, the phase diagram of AB-diblock copolymers is calculated taking the homogeneously mixed system as a reference state. The predicted value (χN)c = 10.385 for a symmetric AB-diblock copolymer compares very well to the result of the original Random Phase Approximation theory (10.495). The simplicity of the model allows its extension to predict order-order transitions in ABC-triblock copolymers.
Crystal structure determination of a new LaPO4 phase in a multicomponent glass ceramic via 3D electron diffraction
2022
Abstract A glass ceramic from the MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 system containing additives of ZrO2, TiO2, La2O3 and P2O5 was investigated. Via x-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and Transmission electron microscopy(TEM) the crystalline phases present could be identified as MgAl2O4 (Spinel), orthorhombic ZrTiO4 and a polymorph of LaPO4 with a previously unknown crystal structure. The crystal structure of this LaPO4 phase was solved ab initio via 3D ED Data. The polymorph occurs in a distorted barite structure type in the same space group (P21/n) as the stable monazite type polymorph, however the density is higher and the La has a higher coordination number. Furthermore the LaPO4 is present in a spinodal reli…
Light Scattering Measurements of Hemoglobin Critical Fluctuation and the Energy Landscape For Polymerization
2010
We have developed a novel method for measuring light scattering to observe critical fluctuations in hemoglobin (Hb) solutions. A small rectangular cell (0.2 x 4.0 x 30 mm) is filled with 24 μL of Hb solution. An optical fiber with outer diameter of 125 μm (62.5 μm core) is sealed into the cell in contact with the solution, and light scattering is measured at 90°. The flat faces of the cell permit measuring absorbance spectra to ensure sample integrity. The scattering source is a 785 nm laser diode that delivers 1.5 mW to the sample. Scattered light is detected by a Hamamatsu GaAs(Cs) PMT via a LWD microscope objective. Measured scattered light intensity agrees (±10%) with scattered intensit…
Self-assembly of a bioelastomeric structure: solution dynamics and the spinodal and coacervation lines.
1990
The stability, metastability, and instability regions of aqueous solutions of a representative synthetic bioelastomeric polymer, poly (Val-Pro-Gly-Val-Gly), were determined by a combined use of elastic and quasi-elastic light scattering experiments. The approach followed here offers the attractive advantage of singling out the relevant contributions to the total scattering even in the presence of traces of noninteracting larger sized impurities. Conclusions so reached were checked by means of independent experiments. The present results provide descriptions of the very early events in the physics of bioelastogenesis in terms of general polymer science and phase transitions, and in terms of …
Protein aggregation/crystallization and minor structural changes: universal versus specific aspects.
2007
AbstractProtein association covers wide interests in biophysics, protein science, and biotechnologies, and it is often viewed as governed by conformation details. More recently, the existence of a universal physical principle governing aggregation/crystallization processes has been suggested by a series of experiments and shown to be linked to the universal scaling properties of concentration fluctuations occurring in the proximity of a phase transition (spinodal demixing in the specific case). Such properties have provided a quantitative basis for capturing kinetic association data on a universal master curve, ruled by the normalized distance of the state of the system from its instability…