1,424 research outputs found
Dynamics of Diblock Copolymers in Dilute Solutions
We consider the dynamics of freely translating and rotating diblock (A-B),
Gaussian copolymers, in dilute solutions. Using the multiple scattering
technique, we have computed the diffusion and the friction coefficients D_AB
and Zeta_AB, and the change Eta_AB in the viscosity of the solution as
functions of x = N_A/N and t = l_B/l_A, where N_A, N are the number of segments
of the A block and of the whole copolymer, respectively, and l_A, l_B are the
Kuhn lengths of the A and B blocks. Specific regimes that maximize the
efficiency of separation of copolymers with distinct "t" values, have been
identified.Comment: 20 pages Revtex, 7 eps figures, needs epsf.tex and amssymb.sty,
submitted to Macromolecule
Origin of translocation barriers for polyelectrolyte chains
For single-file translocations of a charged macromolecule through a narrow
pore, the crucial step of arrival of an end at the pore suffers from free
energy barriers, arising from changes in intrachain electrostatic interaction,
distribution of ionic clouds and solvent molecules, and conformational entropy
of the chain. All contributing factors to the barrier in the initial stage of
translocation are evaluated by using the self-consistent field theory for the
polyelectrolyte and the coupled Poisson-Boltzmann description for ions, without
radial symmetry. The barrier is found to be essentially entropic, due to
conformational changes. For moderate and high salt concentrations, the barriers
for the polyelectrolyte chain are quantitatively equivalent to that of
uncharged self-avoiding walks. Electrostatic effects are shown to increase the
free energy barriers, but only slightly. The degree of ionization,
electrostatic interaction strength, decreasing salt concentration and the
solvent quality all result in increases in the barrier.Comment: J.Chem. Phys. 131, 21 (2009) - to be appeare
Polymers pushing Polymers: Polymer Mixtures in Thermodynamic Equilibrium with a Pore
We investigate polymer partitioning from polymer mixtures into nanometer size
cavities by formulating an equation of state for a binary polymer mixture
assuming that only one (smaller) of the two polymer components can penetrate
the cavity. Deriving the partitioning equilibrium equations and solving them
numerically allows us to introduce the concept of "polymers-pushing-polymers"
for the action of non-penetrating polymers on the partitioning of the
penetrating polymers. Polymer partitioning into a pore even within a very
simple model of a binary polymer mixture is shown to depend in a complicated
way on the composition of the polymer mixture and/or the pore-penetration
penalty. This can lead to enhanced as well as diminished partitioning, due to
two separate energy scales that we analyse in detail.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Continuum Theory of Polymer Crystallization
We present a kinetic model of crystal growth of polymers of finite molecular
weight. Experiments help to classify polymer crystallization broadly into two
kinetic regimes. One is observed in melts or in high molar mass polymer
solutions and is dominated by nucleation control with , where is the growth rate and is the super-cooling. The
other is observed in low molar mass solutions (as well as for small molecules)
and is diffusion controlled with , for small . Our
model unifies these two regimes in a single formalism. The model accounts for
the accumulation of polymer chains near the growth front and invokes an
entropic barrier theory to recover both limits of nucleation and diffusion
control. The basic theory applies to both melts and solutions, and we
numerically calculate the growth details of a single crystal in a dilute
solution. The effects of molecular weight and concentration are also determined
considering conventional polymer dynamics. Our theory shows that entropic
considerations, in addition to the traditional energetic arguments, can capture
general trends of a vast range of phenomenology. Unifying ideas on
crystallization from small molecules and from flexible polymer chains emerge
from our theory.Comment: 37 double-spaced pages including 8 figures, submitted to the Journal
of Chemical Physic
Assessing the in vitro efficacy of biocontrol agents and oil cakes against basal rot of onion incited by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cepae
Onions are an important vegetable crop, which is infected by many soils and foliar pathogens. Among them, Fusarium Basal Rot (FBR) causes yield losses of up to 50 per cent in the field and 30 to 40 per cent during post-harvest storage of bulbs. For management of basal rot of onion, the efficacy of native antagonists such as six different Trichoderma sp. (T1-T6), five different Bacillus sp. (B1-B5) and five different oil cakes was assessed against the Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cepae under in vitro condition. Among them, T3 collected from Kulithalai recorded maximum virulence as well as dark green sporulation with conidia length of 2.68–3.25 and breadth of 2.54-3.46µ. Among the tested isolates, In the case of Bacillus sp., isolate B4 recorded the maximum inhibition zone (66.16%), followed by B. subtilis (B5), which recorded a (59.03%) inhibition on the mycelial growth. Among the five different oil cakes, the filtrates of neem cake showed a maximum inhibition zone against F. oxysporum f.sp. cepae of 1.29 cm @ 15% concentration, followed by groundnut cake at 1.36 cm @ 30% concentration. Hence the different control measures, Trichoderma sp. showed critically acclaimed performance under in vitro than others. The combined application of Trichoderma sp, Bacillus sp and neem oilcake significantly inhibited the growth of basal rot of onion due to the presence of the antimicrobial property.
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