Issue 46, 2022

Dynamics of a two-dimensional active polymer chain with a rotation-restricted active head

Abstract

The dynamics of a two-dimensional active polymer composed of an active Brownian particle (ABP) at the head and a passive polymer chain is investigated using Langevin dynamics simulation. The ABP experiences a self-propulsion force fs and a resistance torque M as the passive polymer chain is bonded to the edge of the ABP. M restricts the rotation of the ABP, and thus the dynamics of the ABP and that of the whole active polymer are influenced significantly. Due to this restriction, the persistence time τr, which characterizes the random rotation of the ABP, is increased significantly and changes non-monotonically with the rotational friction coefficient ηr. Our simulation results show that the effect of M on the dynamics of the active polymer can be characterized mainly by the change of τr. Moreover, the propulsive diffusion coefficient DP of the whole polymer chain originated from the self-propulsion force can be described by a scaling relation DPfs2τr/N2ηt2 with ηt the translational friction coefficient and N the polymer length. Our results show that the diffusion is promoted by the resistance torque M and τr is a key factor for the diffusion of active polymers.

Graphical abstract: Dynamics of a two-dimensional active polymer chain with a rotation-restricted active head

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Aug 2022
Accepted
04 Nov 2022
First published
07 Nov 2022

Soft Matter, 2022,18, 8820-8829

Dynamics of a two-dimensional active polymer chain with a rotation-restricted active head

H. Hu, Y. Shen, C. Wang and M. Luo, Soft Matter, 2022, 18, 8820 DOI: 10.1039/D2SM01139E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements