title: Giant Acceleration of DNA Diffusion in an Array of Entropic Barriers.
abstract: We investigate with experiments and computer simulations the nonequilibrium dynamics of DNA polymers crossing arrays of entropic barriers in nanofluidic devices in a pressure-driven flow. With increasing driving pressure, the effective diffusivity of DNA rises and then peaks at a value that is many times higher than the equilibrium diffusivity. This is an entropic manifestation of "giant acceleration of diffusion." The phenomenon is sensitive to the effective energy landscape; thus, it offers a unique probe of entropic barriers in a system driven away from equilibrium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
authors.forename: Clark
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
authors.forename: Jackson T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Del Bonis-O'Donnell
authors.affiliation: Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.|Computational Science and Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, CH-8092 ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Anastasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matzavinos
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
authors.forename: Derek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004058:Diffusion; D019277:Entropy; D008956:Models, Chemical; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA