RT journal article
T1 Soft Character of Star-Like Polymer Melts: From Linear-Like Chains to Impenetrable Nanoparticles.
A1 Bacova, Petra
A1 Gkolfi, Eirini
A1 Harmandaris, Vagelis
A2 Ciencia de los Materiales e Ingeniería Metalúrgica y Química Inorgánica
K1 star polymers
K1 penetrability
K1 impenetrable region
K1 atomistic simulations
K1 colloidal-like character
AB The importance of microscopic details in the description of the behavior of polymeric nanostructured systems, such as hairy nanoparticles, has been lately discussed via experimental and theoretical approaches. Here we focus on star polymers, which represent well-defined soft nano-objects. By means of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, we provide a quantitative study about the effect of chemistry on the penetrability of star polymers in a melt, which cannot be considered by generic coarse-grained models. The "effective softness" estimated for two dissimilar polymers is confronted with available literature data. A consistent picture about the star penetrability can be drawn when the star internal packing is taken into consideration besides the number and the length of the star arms. These findings, together with the recently introduced two-layer model, represent a step forward in providing a fundamental understanding of the soft character of stars and guiding their design toward advanced applications, such as in all-polymer nanocomposites.
PB AMER CHEMICAL SOC
SN 1530-6992
YR 2023
FD 2023-01
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/27966
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/27966
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 13-nov-2026