https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/s10189-023-00324-4
Regular Article - Soft Matter
Impact of flexibility on the aggregation of polymeric macromolecules
1
Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Prof. Yousef Sobouti Blvd., 45137-66731, Zanjan, Iran
2
Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Prof. Yousef Sobouti Blvd., 45137-66731, Zanjan, Iran
Received:
12
May
2023
Accepted:
17
July
2023
Published online:
31
July
2023
Dependence of the dimerization probability and the aggregation behavior of polymeric macromolecules on their flexibility is studied using Langevin dynamics simulations. It is found that the dimerization probability is a non-monotonic function of the polymers persistence length. For a given value of inter-polymer attraction strength, semiflexible polymers have lower dimerization probability relative to flexible and rigid polymers of the same length. The threshold temperature of the formation of aggregates in a many-polymer system and its dependence on the polymers persistence length is also investigated. The simulation results of two- and many-polymer systems are in good agreement and show how the amount of flexibility affects the dimerization and the aggregation behaviors of polymeric macromolecules.
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