Diffusion-controlled intrachain reactions in polymer: An analytical model

TL;DR

This paper develops a more comprehensive analytical model for diffusion-controlled intrachain reactions in polymers, explicitly considering the motion of both open and closed chain segments, advancing understanding of loop formation dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a generalized model that accounts for the motion of both open and closed polymer chains, unlike previous models.

Findings

Model considers motion of both chain states explicitly

More accurate description of loop formation dynamics

Extends the diffusion-reaction formalism of Wilemski and Fixman

Abstract

A theory of diffusion-controlled intramolecular reactions of polymer chain in dilute solution is formulated. Our model is based on the widely used diffusion-reaction formalism of Wilemski and Fixman (J. Chem. Phys. 60, 866 (1974). Our model is more general than the model proposed by Wilemski and Fixman, in the sense that our model considers the motion of both close and open chain polymer explicitely. It is quite unlikely that the motion of close chain polymer do not play any role in the loop formation dynamics, but unfortunately this fact was not considered in any of the earlier studies.