Chemically reactive and aging macromolecular mixtures II: Phase separation and coarsening

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Zhang, Ruoyao, Mao, Sheng, Haataja, Mikko P.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
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author Zhang, Ruoyao
Mao, Sheng
Haataja, Mikko P.
author_facet Zhang, Ruoyao
Mao, Sheng
Haataja, Mikko P.
contents In a companion paper, we put forth a thermodynamic model for complex formation via a chemical reaction involving multiple macromolecular species, which may subsequently undergo liquid-liquid phase separation and a further transition into a gel-like state. In the present work, we formulate a thermodynamically consistent kinetic framework to study the interplay between phase separation, chemical reaction and aging in spatially inhomogeneous macromolecular mixtures. A numerical algorithm is also proposed to simulate domain growth from collisions of liquid and gel domains via passive Brownian motion in both two and three spatial dimensions. Our results show that the coarsening behavior is significantly influenced by the degree of gelation and Brownian motion. The presence of a gel phase inside condensates strongly limits the diffusive transport processes, and Brownian motion coalescence controls the coarsening process in systems with high area/volume fractions of gel-like condensates, leading to formation of interconnected domains with atypical domain growth rates controlled by size-dependent translational and rotational diffusivities.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_18171
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Chemically reactive and aging macromolecular mixtures II: Phase separation and coarsening
Zhang, Ruoyao
Mao, Sheng
Haataja, Mikko P.
Biological Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
In a companion paper, we put forth a thermodynamic model for complex formation via a chemical reaction involving multiple macromolecular species, which may subsequently undergo liquid-liquid phase separation and a further transition into a gel-like state. In the present work, we formulate a thermodynamically consistent kinetic framework to study the interplay between phase separation, chemical reaction and aging in spatially inhomogeneous macromolecular mixtures. A numerical algorithm is also proposed to simulate domain growth from collisions of liquid and gel domains via passive Brownian motion in both two and three spatial dimensions. Our results show that the coarsening behavior is significantly influenced by the degree of gelation and Brownian motion. The presence of a gel phase inside condensates strongly limits the diffusive transport processes, and Brownian motion coalescence controls the coarsening process in systems with high area/volume fractions of gel-like condensates, leading to formation of interconnected domains with atypical domain growth rates controlled by size-dependent translational and rotational diffusivities.
title Chemically reactive and aging macromolecular mixtures II: Phase separation and coarsening
topic Biological Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.18171