Dynamics of an Adsorbed Polymer Chain

Because of the current precision in fluorescent labeling, it is possible to label single polymers such as DNA or PEG and track their dynamical and equilibrium properties in the bulk as well as near attractive surfaces [Maier et. al., Macro. 2000][Sukhishvili et. al., Macro. 2002]. Recent evidence from these experiments and related simulations has shown that the dynamics of a single polymer near an attractive surface appear diffusive, however further evidence coming from the 'diffusion coefficient' implies a different process other than diffusion is at work such as reptation, `hover crafting', or `hopping' [Sukhishvili et. al., Macro. 2002]. In general, these possible dynamical behaviors are determined by the length of the polymer itself as well as the microscopic details of the attractive surface which include the density, strength, and distribution of attractive surface sites[Desai et. al., PRL 2007][Qian et. al., PRL 2007]. In this presentation, we investigate the effects of microscopic surface sites on single polymer dynamics through DMD simulations and compare these results to the properties of the chain in the bulk and near a flat attractive surface.