title: Dynamics of polymer translocation through nanopores: theory meets experiment.
abstract: The dynamics of translocation of polymer molecules through nanopores is investigated via molecular dynamics. We find that an off-lattice minimalist model of the system is sufficient to reproduce quantitatively all the experimentally observed trends and scaling behavior. Specifically, simulations show (i) two translocation regimes depending on the ratio of pore and polymer length, (ii) two different regimes for the probability of translocation depending on applied voltage, (iii) an exponential dependence of translocation velocity upon applied voltage, and (iv) an exponential decrease of the translocation time with temperature. We also propose a simple theoretical explanation of each of the observed trends within a free energy landscape framework.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Computer and Information Technology Institute, 6100 Main street, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.
authors.forename: Silvina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matysiak
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montesi
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pasquali
authors.forename: Anatoly B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Kolomeisky
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clementi
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers