Highly stretched single polymers: Atomic-force-microscope experiments versus ab-initio theory

Thorsten Hugel, Matthias Rief, Markus Seitz, Hermann E. Gaub, Roland R. Netz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

166 Scopus citations

Abstract

Experimental single-molecule stretching curves for three backbone architectures (single-stranded DNA, various types of peptides, polyvinylamine) are quantitatively compared with corresponding quantum-chemical (zero-temperature) ab-initio calculations in the high-force range of up to two nano-newtons. For high forces, quantitative agreement is obtained with the contour length of the polymers as the only fitting parameter. For smaller forces, the effects of chain fluctuations are accounted for by using recent theoretical results for the stretching response of a freely-rotating-chain model.

Original languageEnglish
Article number048301
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume94
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 4 Feb 2005

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