TY - JOUR
T1 - Star Block-Copolymers in Shear Flow
AU - Jaramillo-Cano, Diego
AU - Formanek, Maud
AU - Likos, Christos N.
AU - Camargo, Manuel
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2022-06-08
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): OSR-2016-CRG5-3073
Acknowledgements: The authors thank support by the European Training Network COLLDENSE (H2020-MCSA-ITN-2014, Grant No. 642774). This publication is based upon work partially supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under Award No. OSR-2016-CRG5-3073. M.C. thanks VCTI-UAN (Project 2015036) and Colciencias (Project 123365842816). Computer time at the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC) is gratefully acknowledged.
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.
PY - 2018/3/16
Y1 - 2018/3/16
N2 - Star block-copolymers (SBCs) have been demonstrated to constitute self-assembling building blocks with specific softness, functionalization, shape, and flexibility. In this work, we study the behavior of an isolated SBC under a shear flow by means of particle-based multiscale simulations. We systematically analyze the conformational properties of low-functionality stars, as well as the formation of attractive patches on their corona as a function of the shear rate. We cover a wide range of system parameters, including functionality, amphiphilicity, and solvent quality. It is shown that SBCs display a richer structural and dynamical behavior than athermal star polymers in a shear flow [Ripoll Phys. Rev. Lett., 2006, 96, 188302], and, therefore, they are also interesting candidates to tune the viscoelastic properties of complex fluids. We identify three factors of patch reorganization under shear that lead to patch numbers and orientations depending on the shear rate, namely, free arms joining existing patches, fusion of medium-sized patches into bigger ones, and fission of large patches into two smaller ones under high shear rates. Because the conformation of single SBC is expected to be preserved in low-density bulk phases, the presented results are a first step in understanding and predicting the rheological properties of semidilute suspensions of this kind of polymers.
AB - Star block-copolymers (SBCs) have been demonstrated to constitute self-assembling building blocks with specific softness, functionalization, shape, and flexibility. In this work, we study the behavior of an isolated SBC under a shear flow by means of particle-based multiscale simulations. We systematically analyze the conformational properties of low-functionality stars, as well as the formation of attractive patches on their corona as a function of the shear rate. We cover a wide range of system parameters, including functionality, amphiphilicity, and solvent quality. It is shown that SBCs display a richer structural and dynamical behavior than athermal star polymers in a shear flow [Ripoll Phys. Rev. Lett., 2006, 96, 188302], and, therefore, they are also interesting candidates to tune the viscoelastic properties of complex fluids. We identify three factors of patch reorganization under shear that lead to patch numbers and orientations depending on the shear rate, namely, free arms joining existing patches, fusion of medium-sized patches into bigger ones, and fission of large patches into two smaller ones under high shear rates. Because the conformation of single SBC is expected to be preserved in low-density bulk phases, the presented results are a first step in understanding and predicting the rheological properties of semidilute suspensions of this kind of polymers.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/678756
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b12229
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045427833&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b12229
DO - 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b12229
M3 - Article
SN - 1520-5207
VL - 122
SP - 4149
EP - 4158
JO - Journal of Physical Chemistry B
JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry B
IS - 14
ER -