Pulling absorbing and collapsing polymers from a surface

TL;DR

This study uses a flat-histogram algorithm to explore how a self-interacting polymer attached to a surface responds to various forces and interactions, revealing re-entrant layering behavior and desorption phenomena.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the full parameter space of polymer-surface interactions and forces, uncovering new layering and desorption behaviors.

Findings

Re-entrant layering behavior under applied force.

Polymer desorbs at a critical force without intermediate transitions.

Complete parameter space exploration of interactions and force effects.

Abstract

A self-interacting polymer with one end attached to a sticky surface has been studied by means of a flat-histogram stochastic growth algorithm known as FlatPERM. We examined the four-dimensional parameter space of the number of monomers up to 91, self-attraction, surface attraction and force applied to an end of the polymer. Using this powerful algorithm the \emph{complete} parameter space of interactions and force has been considered. Recently it has been conjectured that a hierarchy of states appears at low temperature/poor solvent conditions where a polymer exists in a finite number of layers close to a surface. We find re-entrant behaviour from a stretched phase into these layering phases when an appropriate force is applied to the polymer. We also find that, contrary to what may be expected, the polymer desorbs from the surface when a sufficiently strong critical force is applied and does \emph{not} transcend through either a series of de-layering transitions or monomer-by-monomer transitions.