Collapse transition of flexible homopolymers with adhesive contacts

TL;DR

This study introduces a potential model for flexible homopolymers with adhesive contacts, demonstrating that such contacts promote the formation of helical structures during collapse from stretched states.

Contribution

It presents a novel polymer model with adhesive contacts and shows how these contacts facilitate helix formation during collapse.

Findings

Adhesive contacts promote helical order in collapsed polymers.

Helical structures are stabilized by adhesive contacts during collapse.

Polymer chains can become trapped in helical states due to adhesive interactions.

Abstract

The presence of ordered structures such as helices in collapsed states of polymer chains is still an open question challenging physics and biology. In this work, we present a potential model for polymer chains with monomers that are not strictly attractive, but that can make adhesive contacts with other monomers. We find that the chain develop helical order during the process of collapsing from an initially stretched conformation. It seems in this case that the adhesive contacts help the polymer chain to stay trapped in the helix state.