Dynamics of the reaction between the free end of a tethered self-avoiding polymer and a flat penetrable surface: A renormalization group study

Cherayil, Binny J and Bhattacharyya, Pinaki (2014) Dynamics of the reaction between the free end of a tethered self-avoiding polymer and a flat penetrable surface: A renormalization group study. In: JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 140 (23).

PDF Jl-che-phy_140-23-2014.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (409kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

The average time tau(r) for one end of a long, self-avoiding polymer to interact for the first time with a flat penetrable surface to which it is attached at the other end is shown here to scale essentially as the square of the chain's contour length N. This result is obtained within the framework of the Wilemski-Fixman approximation to diffusion-limited reactions, in which the reaction time is expressed as a time correlation function of a ``sink'' term. In the present work, this sink-sink correlation function is calculated using perturbation expansions in the excluded volume and the polymer-surface interactions, with renormalization group methods being used to resum the expansion into a power law form. The quadratic dependence of tau(r) on N mirrors the behavior of the average time tau(c) of a free random walk to cyclize, but contrasts with the cyclization time of a free self-avoiding walk (SAW), for which tau(r) similar to N-2.2. A simulation study by Cheng and Makarov J. Phys. Chem. B 114, 3321 (2010)] of the chain-end reaction time of an SAW on a flat impenetrable surface leads to the same N-2.2 behavior, which is surprising given the reduced conformational space a tethered polymer has to explore in order to react. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
Publisher:	AMER INST PHYSICS
Additional Information:	copyright for this article belongs to AMER INST PHYSICS, CIRCULATION & FULFILLMENT DIV, 2 HUNTINGTON QUADRANGLE, STE 1 N O 1, MELVILLE, NY 11747-4501 USA
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Inorganic & Physical Chemistry
Date Deposited:	14 Aug 2014 09:52
Last Modified:	14 Aug 2014 09:52
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/49546

Actions (login required)

View Item