Mechanics of Semiflexible Polymer Chains Under Confinements

Abstract

By using wormlike chain model, we have theoretically investigated the forceextension relations of semiflexible polymer chains constrained by a) a slab-like confinement, where the polymer chains are sandwiched between two parallel impenetrable walls; b) and a capped nanochannel confinement with a circular or rectangular cross-section, where chains are bounded in two directions. Brownian dynamics simulations, based on a recently developed generalized bead-rod (GBR) model (Wang and Gao, J. Chem. Phys., 2005, 123: 084906), are performed to verify the theoretical predictions on force-extension behavior of the confined polymer chains