Unconventionally fast transport through sliding dynamics of rodlike particles in macromolecular networks

Bibliographic Details
Title: Unconventionally fast transport through sliding dynamics of rodlike particles in macromolecular networks
Authors: Xuanyu Zhang, Xiaobin Dai, Md Ahsan Habib, Lijuan Gao, Wenlong Chen, Wenjie Wei, Zhongqiu Tang, Xianyu Qi, Xiangjun Gong, Lingxiang Jiang, Li-Tang Yan
Source: Nature Communications, Vol 15, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2024)
Publisher Information: Nature Portfolio, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Science
Subject Terms: Science
More Details: Abstract Transport of rodlike particles in confinement environments of macromolecular networks plays crucial roles in many important biological processes and technological applications. The relevant understanding has been limited to thin rods with diameter much smaller than network mesh size, although the opposite case, of which the dynamical behaviors and underlying physical mechanisms remain unclear, is ubiquitous. Here, we solve this issue by combining experiments, simulations and theory. We find a nonmonotonic dependence of translational diffusion on rod length, characterized by length commensuration-governed unconventionally fast dynamics which is in striking contrast to the monotonic dependence for thin rods. Our results clarify that such a fast diffusion of thick rods with length of integral multiple of mesh size follows sliding dynamics and demonstrate it to be anomalous yet Brownian. Moreover, good agreement between theoretical analysis and simulations corroborates that the sliding dynamics is an intermediate regime between hopping and Brownian dynamics, and provides a mechanistic interpretation based on the rod-length dependent entropic free energy barrier. The findings yield a principle, that is, length commensuration, for optimal design of rodlike particles with highly efficient transport in confined environments of macromolecular networks, and might enrich the physics of the diffusion dynamics in heterogeneous media.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2041-1723
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2041-1723
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44765-7
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/7b012981b0144aa6b9caac74c81a685f
Accession Number: edsdoj.7b012981b0144aa6b9caac74c81a685f
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:20411723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-024-44765-7
Published in:Nature Communications
Language:English