Non-Equilibrium Dynamics of Single polymer Adsorption to Solid Surfaces

TL;DR

This paper investigates the non-equilibrium dynamics of single polymer adsorption to solid surfaces, revealing different scaling regimes for adsorption time depending on the energy, and relating it to polymer translocation.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of the scaling behavior of polymer adsorption times in different energy regimes, connecting it to non-equilibrium effects and polymer translocation.

Findings

Adsorption time scales as N^{(1+2 u)/(1+ u)} at weak energies.

Adsorption time scales as N^{(1+ u)} at high energies.

Two distinct dynamic regimes separated by a non-equilibrium energy scale.

Abstract

Adsorption of polymers to surfaces is crucial for understanding many fundamental processes in nature. Recent experimental studies indicate that the adsorption dynamics is dominated by non-equilibrium effects. We investigate the adsorption of a single polymer of length $N$ to a planar solid surface in the absence of hydrodynamic interactions. We find that for weak adsorption energies the adsorption time scales $ \sim N^{(1+2\nu)/(1+\nu)}$, where $\nu$ is the Flory exponent for the polymer. We argue that in this regime the single chain adsorption is closely related to a field-driven polymer translocation through narrow pores. Surprisingly, for high adsorption energies the adsorption time becomes longer, as it scales $\sim N^{(1+\nu)}$, which is explained by strong stretching of the unadsorbed part of the polymer close to the adsorbing surface. These two dynamic regimes are separated by an energy scale that is characterised by non-equilibrium contributions during the adsorption process.