title: Generation of mechanical force by grafted polyelectrolytes in an electric field.
abstract: We study theoretically and by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations the generation of mechanical force by grafted polyelectrolytes in an external electric field, which favors its adsorption on the grafting plane. The force arises in deformable bodies linked to the free end of the chain. Varying the field, one controls the length of the nonadsorbed part of the chain and hence the deformation of the target body, i.e., the arising force too. We consider target bodies with a linear force-deformation relation and with a Hertzian one. While the first relation models a coiled Gaussian chain, the second one describes the force response of a squeezed colloidal particle. The theoretical dependences of generated force and compression of the target body on an applied field agree very well with the results of MD simulations. The analyzed phenomenon may play an important role in future nanomachinery, e.g., it may be used to design nanovices to fix nanosized objects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Brilliantov
authors.affiliation: G.A. Krestov Institute of Solution Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademicheskaya Street 1, 153045 Ivanovo, Russia and Department of Applied Mathematics, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Yu A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Budkov
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Science Park Golm, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Seidel