Polymers in crowded environment under stretching force: globule-coil transitions

TL;DR

This study investigates how stretching forces affect the globule-coil transition of polymers in crowded environments using lattice models and advanced simulation techniques.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of globule-coil transitions under force in porous environments using SASAW models and PERM simulations.

Findings

Transition temperature T_θ estimated for different conditions

Phase diagrams of globule-coil coexistence constructed

Force-induced transition to stretched state analyzed

Abstract

We study flexible polymer macromolecules in a crowded (porous) environment, modelling them as self-attracting self-avoiding walks (SASAW) on site-diluted percolative lattices in space dimensions d=2, 3. The influence of stretching force on the polymer folding and properties of globule-coil transitions are analyzed. Applying the pruned-enriched Rosenbluth chain-growth method (PERM), we estimate the transition temperature T_{\Theta} between collapsed and extended polymer configurations and construct the phase diagrams of the globule-coil coexistence when varying temperature and stretching force. The transition to a completely stretched state, caused by applying force, is discussed as well.