| Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 63, Number 1, July 2003
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | 139 - 145 | |
| Section | Interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i2003-00489-5 | |
| Published online | 01 June 2003 | |
Role of cross-links in bundle formation, phase separation and gelation of long filaments
Department of Material and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science 76100 Rehovot, Israel
Received:
23
May
2002
Accepted:
6
May
2003
We predict the thermodynamic and structural behavior of solutions of self-assembling chains, cross-links and end-cap molecules. We find that at the mean-field level, the entropy of self-assembled junctions induces an effective attraction that can result in equilibrium between a sol phase and a connected network. A connected network can also be formed in a non-thermodynamic transition upon increase of the monomer or cross-link density, or with decreasing temperature. For rigid rods, at low temperatures, we predict a transition from an isotropic network to anisotropic bundles of rods linked by cross-links, that is triggered by the interplay between the configurational entropy of the cross-link distribution, and the rotational and translational entropy of the rods.
PACS: 82.70.Gg – Gels and sols / 05.70.Fh – Phase transitions: general studies / 87.15.-v – Biomolecules: structure and physical properties
© EDP Sciences, 2003
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