Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Polymeric Materials

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Physics and Theory".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2024 | Viewed by 2738

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Labortatorio de Evolución Química, Departamento de Química de Radiaciones y Radioquímica, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Alc. Coyoacán Apdo. Post. 70-543, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
Interests: electromechanical properties in amino acids and polymers; molecular simulation; prebiotic chemistry; molecular evolution; crystal–amino acid interaction

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Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Bionanotecnología, Centro de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Km 107 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, C.P. 22860, Ensenada, Mexico
Interests: nanoplastics; plastic pollution; plastic bioremediation; nanoplastic’s toxicity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

High-strength products such as natural polymers have been largely replaced by new elastomeric polymers and other types of synthetic materials. The term "polymer" was introduced by Berzelius until more current, stable definitions were achieved. Polymer science is a scientific discipline that studies the various properties of these complex molecular materials at different scales. In this Special Issue, we will explore their structure, electrical properties, environmental compatibility, biotechnological and pharmaceutical uses, and potential as organic storage media using molecular dynamics. These molecular dynamics simulations of polymeric materials enable the prediction of various properties. In addition, the current capabilities of computer simulations provide molecular-level explanations for ferroelectric, thermal, and electromechanical properties, and we need these efforts to move from traditional chemistry to molecular simulations to the green physicochemistry that forms the basis of this volume. It gives us the opportunity not only to understand the nanoscale properties of different types of polymers, but also to apply these different high-performance features in our daily lives. In the case of polymers, it is possible to coordinate them with different surfaces to improve the performance of solar cells and storage devices, such as computers and power generation. Other important aspects of molecular dynamics simulations in polymers include the self-assembly and oligomerization of chiral monomers. From there, we move to the fundamental aspect of polymer synthesis from the perspective of complex systems, for example, by simulating the molecular dynamics of living systems. In this volume, we will discuss polymer characterization and performance aspects in molecular computer simulations. 

Dr. Alejandro Heredia Barbero
Dr. Ana Guadalupe Rodríguez Hernández
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • polymeric materials
  • molecular dynamics
  • molecular simulation
  • natural polymers
  • synthetic polymers
  • conducting polymers

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 9177 KiB  
Article
Extraction of Mechanical Parameters via Molecular Dynamics Simulation: Application to Polyimides
by Philipp Rosenauer, Christoph Kratzer, Silvia Larisegger and Stefan Radl
Polymers 2024, 16(6), 813; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16060813 - 14 Mar 2024
Viewed by 701
Abstract
Polyimides feature a vast number of industrial applications due to their high thermal stability and insulation properties. These polymers exhibit an exceptional combination of thermal stability and mechanical toughness, which allows the semiconductor industry to use them as a mechanical stress buffer. Here, [...] Read more.
Polyimides feature a vast number of industrial applications due to their high thermal stability and insulation properties. These polymers exhibit an exceptional combination of thermal stability and mechanical toughness, which allows the semiconductor industry to use them as a mechanical stress buffer. Here, we perform all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for such materials to assess their predictive capability with respect to their mechanical properties. Specifically, we demonstrate that the OPLS-AA force field can be used to successfully describe an often-used polyimide (i.e., Kapton®) with respect to its Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. Two different modes to extract these mechanical properties from MD simulations are presented. In particular, our continuous deformation mode simulations almost perfectly replicate the results from real-world experimental data and are in line with predictions using other MD force fields. Our thorough investigation of Kapton® also includes an analysis of the anisotropy of normal stresses, as well as the effect of simulation properties on the predicted Young’s moduli. Furthermore, the polyimide pyromellitic dianhydride/2-(4-aminophenyl)-1H-benzimidazole-5-amine (PMDA-BIA) was investigated to draw a more thorough picture of the usability of the OPLS-AA force field for polyimides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Polymeric Materials)
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14 pages, 4712 KiB  
Article
Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Polymer Nanocomposites with Supramolecular Network Constructed via Functionalized Polymer End-Grafted Nanoparticles
by Guanyi Hou, Runhan Ren, Wei Shang, Yunxuan Weng and Jun Liu
Polymers 2023, 15(15), 3259; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15153259 - 31 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1168
Abstract
Since the proposal of self-healing materials, numerous researchers have focused on exploring their potential applications in flexible sensors, bionic robots, satellites, etc. However, there have been few studies on the relationship between the morphology of the dynamic crosslink network and the comprehensive properties [...] Read more.
Since the proposal of self-healing materials, numerous researchers have focused on exploring their potential applications in flexible sensors, bionic robots, satellites, etc. However, there have been few studies on the relationship between the morphology of the dynamic crosslink network and the comprehensive properties of self-healing polymer nanocomposites (PNCs). In this study, we designed a series of modified nanoparticles with different sphericity (η) to establish a supramolecular network, which provide the self-healing ability to PNCs. We analyzed the relationship between the morphology of the supramolecular network and the mechanical performance and self-healing behavior. We observed that as η increased, the distribution of the supramolecular network became more uniform in most cases. Examination of the segment dynamics of polymer chains showed that the completeness of the supramolecular network significantly hindered the mobility of polymer matrix chains. The mechanical performance and self-healing behavior of the PNCs showed that the supramolecular network mainly contributed to the mechanical performance, while the self-healing efficiency was dominated by the variation of η. We observed that appropriate grafting density is the proper way to effectively enhance the mechanical and self-healing performance of PNCs. This study provides a unique guideline for designing and fabricating self-healing PNCs with modified Nanoparticles (NPs). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Polymeric Materials)
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