Phase transition to bundles of flexible supramolecular polymers

Open Access
Authors
Publication date 2008
Journal Physical Review Letters
Volume | Issue number 100 | 18
Pages (from-to) 188301
Number of pages 4
Organisations
  • Faculty of Science (FNWI) - Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS)
Abstract We report Monte Carlo simulations of the self-assembly of supramolecular polymers based on a model of patchy particles. We find a first-order phase transition, characterized by hysteresis and nucleation, toward a solid bundle of polymers, of length much greater than the average gas phase length. We argue that the bundling transition is the supramolecular equivalent of the sublimation transition, which results from a weak chain-chain interaction. We provide a qualitative equation of state that gives physical insight beyond the specific values of the parameters used in our simulations.
Document type Article
Published at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.188301
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