Molecular process of polymer collapse was reproduced by isothermal molecular dynamics simulation. The initial polymer chains were obtained by mean of random walks in continuum space. Two potential models were considered to represent short range interactions between monomers. Various structural properties during the collapse of the polymer were measured and different collapse pathways were obser...

The effect and interrelationship between primary (segmental backbone) and secondary (side chain) molecular motions on thrombogenesis, independent of morphological order/disorder, crystallinity, and/or associated water is elucidated using an amorphous hydrophobic polymer of poly-[(trifluoroethoxy) (fluoroalkoxy)phosphazene] PNF. The results indicate that thrombogenesis for an amorphous hydrophob...

Nanobelts are a new class of semiconducting metal oxide nanowires. The ribbon-like nanobelts are chemically pure and structurally u w c

With the rapidly increasing demands for ultrasensitive biodetection, the design and applications of new nano-scale materials for development of sensors based on optical and electrochemical transducers have attracted substantial interest. In particular, given the comparable sizes of nanomaterials and biomolecules, there exist plenty of opportunities to develop functional nanoprobes with biomolec...

The physical mechanisms and molecular-level picture of laser-induced material ejection from frozen solutions of polymer molecules in a volatile matrix are investigated in a series of coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. The simulations are performed for polymer concentrations up to 6 wt % and laser fluences covering the range from the regime where molecular ejection is limited to matr...

While the basic chemical structure of a synthetic high polymer is usually well understood, many physical properties depend on such characteristics as chain length, degree of chain branching, and molecular weight, which are not easy to specify exactly in terms of a molecular formula. Moreover, the macromolecules in a given sample are seldom uniform in chain length or molecular weight (which for ...

Dispersing nanoparticles in a polymer matrix is intrinsically challenging because of unfavorable entropic interactions between the matrix and the nanoparticle. Similar to suspensions of larger colloidal particles, it has been found that thermodynamically stable dispersions of nanoparticles can be achieved in polymer matrices when the nanoparticles are decorated with dense layers of polymer teth...

A nanowire-based nanosensor for detecting biologically and chemically charged molecules that is probe-free and highly sensitive is demonstrated. The device relies on the nonsymmetrical Schottky contact under reverse bias, and is much more sensitive than the device based on the symmetric ohmic contact. This approach serves as a guideline for designing more practical chemical and biochemical sens...