The Influence of Entanglements on the Dynamics of Flash Nanoprecipitation: A Slip-Spring Dissipative-Particle-Dynamics Investigation

We study the precipitation of polymer solutions using explicit-solvent dissipative particle dynamics. We investigate the influence of slip springs as an incarnation of entanglements on the aggregation dynamics. In a set of simulations, the precipitation of a 1% solution of chains of lengths of 75, 100, 150, and 200 beads is analyzed as 50% of the solvent is suddenly exchanged for antisolvent. We find that the aggregation includes a network-like stage where most polymers are entirely globular and bridged by some elongated chains. Effects of entanglements on this structure are investigated by imposing different numbers of slip springs onto the precipitating chains. We find the influence of these entanglements or the chain length on the collapse time and structure of the formed nanoparticles to be very limited.