Effects of electrostatic interactions on the translocation of polymers through a narrow pore under different solvent conditions: A dissipative particle dynamics simulation study

摘要

Polymer translocation through a narrow pore is investigated using a particle-based dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method. A rigid core is included in each particle to avoid particle interpenetration problems based on the original DPD method. Electrostatic interactions of charged particles are simply represented via screened Coulombic interactions. The average translocation time τ versus polymer length N satisfies the scaling law τ ～ N ~β. The scaling exponent β depends on solvent quality. The results demonstrate that solvent quality exerts a considerable influence on the dynamics of translocation of polymers. The findings may help facilitate understanding of the dynamic behaviors of various polymer and DNA molecules during translocation processes.