Coarse graining solvent polymer interactions in bead spring chain models

Abstract

Long flexible polymers, even in dilute concentrations in a solvent, cause the solution to become non-Newtonian in flow; giving rise to phenomena such as rod climbing, shear thinning, coil-stretch transition etc. A mechanical model of polymer consisting of beads connected by springs has been employed successfully to study the non-Newtonian behavior. In this thesis, we have developed new bead spring models to study flow behavior of long flexible polymers including solvent interactions that was not possible using previous methods. These new models allow us to investigate flow behavior of long polymer molecules like single stranded DNA, vWF protein and synthetic polymers more accurately.