Cluster Glasses of Semiflexible Ring Polymers
- Author(s)
- Mohammed Zakaria Slimani, Petra Bacova, Marco Bernabei, Arturo Narros, Christos N. Likos, Angel J. Moreno
- Abstract
We present computer simulations of concentrated solutions of unknotted nonconcatenated semiflexible ring polymers. Unlike in their flexible counterparts, shrinking involves a strong energetic penalty, favoring interpenetration and clustering of the rings. We investigate the slow dynamics of the centers-of-mass of the rings in the amorphous cluster phase, consisting of disordered columns of oblate rings penetrated by bundles of prolate ones. Scattering functions reveal a striking decoupling of self- and collective motions. Correlations between centers-of-mass exhibit slow relaxation, as expected for an incipient glass transition, indicating the dynamic arrest of the cluster positions. However, self-correlations decay at much shorter time scales. This feature is a manifestation of the fast, continuous exchange and diffusion of the individual rings over the matrix of clusters. Our results reveal a novel scenario of glass formation in a simple monodisperse system, characterized by self-collective decoupling, soft caging, and mild dynamic heterogeneity.
- Organisation(s)
- Computational and Soft Matter Physics
- External organisation(s)
- University of the Basque Country, Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
- Journal
- ACS Macro Letters
- Volume
- 3
- Pages
- 611-616
- No. of pages
- 6
- ISSN
- 2161-1653
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/mz500117v
- Publication date
- 07-2014
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103023 Polymer physics
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Chemistry, Polymers and Plastics, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/a2697dec-a29a-4ef3-ba81-5aef39281534