Dynamics of semi-flexible polymer solutions in the highly entangled regime

TL;DR

This study experimentally verifies that the effective medium approximation accurately predicts the scaling law of the plateau modulus in semi-flexible polymer solutions, contrasting with other theories, using actin filament experiments.

Contribution

The paper provides experimental validation of the EMA's scaling law for the plateau modulus in highly entangled semi-flexible polymers, distinguishing it from competing theories.

Findings

EMA correctly predicts $G^{0} o ho^{4/3}L^{-1/3}_{p}$ scaling.

BCA predicts an incorrect $G^{0} o ho^{7/5}L^{-1/5}_{p}$ scaling.

Experimental data supports EMA over BCA in semi-flexible polymer solutions.

Abstract

We present experimental evidence that the effective medium approximation (EMA), developed by D.C. Morse [Phys. Rev. E {\bf 63}, 031502, (2001)], provides the correct scaling law of the macroscopic plateau modulus $G^{0}\propto\rho^{4/3}L^{-1/3}_{p}$ (where $\rho$ is the contour length per unit volume and $L_{p}$ is the persistence length) of semi-flexible polymer solutions, in the highly entangled concentration regime. Competing theories, including a self-consistent binary collision approximation (BCA), have instead predicted $G^{0}\propto\rho^{7/5}L^{-1/5}_{p}$. We have tested both the EMA and BCA scaling predictions using actin filament (F-actin) solutions which permit experimental control of $L_p$ independently of other parameters. A combination of passive video particle tracking microrheology and dynamic light scattering yields independent measurements of the elastic modulus $G$ and $L_{p}$ respectively. Thus we can distinguish between the two proposed laws, in contrast to previous experimental studies, which focus on the (less discriminating) concentration functionality of $G$.