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Using capillary electrophoresis, large DNA molecules (2.0-23.1 kbp) may be rapidly separated in ultradilute polymer solutions (< 0.002% w/w) under a high-voltage, steady field (265 V/cm). At this polymer concentration, the separation mechanism appears to be significantly different from that postulated to occur in crosslinked gels. Based on experimental results obtained with DNA restriction frag...

In a concentrated polymer solution, the entanglement of long-chain molecules results in a transient network structure, to which may be attributed certain aspects of the viscoelastic behavior of such a system. A suitable mechanical model for representing this network as a first approximation is a retarded Maxwell element with one spring and two dashpots. Experimental measurements of mechanical p...

Using slit lamp fluorophotometry it was demonstrated that the rate of drainage of a vehicle placed in the eye increased with increasing volume and that polymer solutions increased the thickness of the precorneal tear film (PTF). By increasing the viscosity of the delivery vehicle, (e.g., a hydroxypropylmethylcellulose polymer solutions), the PTF retention of fluorescein could be increased. The ...

As a model of soft confinement for polymers, we investigated equilibrium shapes of a flexible vesicle that contains a phase-separating polymer solution. To simulate such a system, we combined the phase field theory (PFT) for the vesicle and the self-consistent field theory (SCFT) for the polymer solution. We observed a transition from a symmetric prolate shape of the vesicle to an asymmetric pe...

We analyze the effect of polydispersity in the arm number on the effective interactions , structural correlations and the phase behavior of star polymers in a good solvent. The effective interaction potential between two star polymers with different arm numbers is derived using scaling theory. The resulting expression is tested against monomer-resolved molecular dynamics simulations. We find th...

Why should a physicist be interested in polymers? They do not hold the key to vast sources of energy as atomic nuclei do. They do not defy the intuition with ultrasmall dissipation as superconductors and superfluids do. They do not reveal subtle new nonabelian symmetries as do subatomic particles. Nor do they hold secrets about the origin or fate of the universe. Polymers are just ordinary matt...

Solutions of surfactant-polymer mixtures often exhibit different foaming properties, compared to the solutions of the individual components, due to the strong tendency for formation of polymer-surfactant complexes in the bulk and on the surface of the mixed solutions. A generally shared view in the literature is that electrostatic interactions govern the formation of these complexes, for exampl...