2021 Impact factor 1.624
Soft Matter and Biological Physics

Eur. Phys. J. E 3, 369-376

Solid-like friction of a polymer chain

Th. Charitat - J.-F. Joanny

Institut Charles Sadron, 6 rue Boussingault, 67083 Strasbourg Cedex, France
charitat@ics.u-strasbg.fr

Received 20 March 2000

Abstract
We propose a simple friction model for isolated polymer chains on a solid substrate. The chains are pulled at constant velocity by one end, the other end can be trapped on the solid substrate on localised sites. We focus on the energy dissipation due to the traps. This simple model leads to nontrivial friction laws, depending on the velocity and the distance between traps. Some refinements of the model such as the effect of thermal fluctuations are also reported.

PACS
61.41.+e Polymers, elastomers, and plastics - 68.45.-v Solid-fluid interfaces - 81.40.Pq Friction, lubrification, and wear

Copyright EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag

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