Structural Arrangements of Polymers Adsorbed at Nanostrings

TL;DR

This study uses computer simulations to explore how polymers adsorb onto nanowires, revealing various conformations like droplets and tubes, and maps out the phase diagram of these structures.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive phase diagram of polymer conformations on nanowires, highlighting new polymer-tube structures based on substrate properties.

Findings

Identification of multiple polymer conformations including droplets and tubes

Construction of a complete conformational phase diagram

Detailed analysis of polymer-tube structures

Abstract

We study ground states of a hybrid system consisting of a polymer and an attractive nanowire by means of computer simulations. Depending on structural and energetic properties of the substrate, we find different adsorbed polymer conformations, amongst which are spherical droplets attached to the wire and monolayer tubes surrounding it. We construct the complete conformational phase diagram and analyze in more detail particularly interesting polymer-tube conformations.