Peptide diffusion and self-assembly in ambient water nanofilm on mica surface.

Ambient water nanofilms confined on solid surfaces usually show properties not seen in bulk and play unique roles in many important processes. Here we report diffusion and self-assembly of peptides in ambient water nanofilms on mica, based on "drying microcontact printing" and ex situ atomic force microscopy imaging. We found that diffusion and self-assembly of several peptides in the water nanofilms on mica resulted in one-dimensional "epitaxial" nanofilaments. The peptide self-assembly process is sensitive to the amount of water on the surface, and different peptides with varied molecular structures show different humidity-dependent behaviors. In addition, some peptides that cannot form nanofilaments on substrates in bulk water can be successfully self-assembled into nanofilaments in the water nanofilm.

Radial compression elasticity of single DNA molecules studied by vibrating scanning polarization force microscopy.

The radial compression properties of single DNA molecules have been studied using vibrating scanning polarization force microscopy. By imaging DNA molecules at different vibration amplitude set-point values, we obtain the correlations between radially applied force and DNA compression, from which the radial compressive elasticity can be deduced. The estimated elastic modulus is approximately 20-70 MPa under small external forces (<0.4 nN) and increases to approximately 100-200 MPa for large loads.

Lattice Boltzmann simulation of a single charged particle in a Newtonian fluid.

The lattice Boltzmann method is used to study the sedimentaion of a single charged circular cylinder in a two-dimensional channel in a Newtonian fluid. When the dielectric constant of the liquid is smaller than that of the walls, there are attractive forces between the particle and the walls. The hydrodynamic force pushes the particle towards the centerline at low Reynolds numbers. Due to the competition between the Coulomb force and the hydrodynamic force in opposite directions, there is a critical linear charge density q(c) at which the particle will fall vertically off centerline, which is a metastable state in addition to the stable state on centerline, for any initial position of the particle sufficiently far from the proximal wall. It is found that the rotation of the particle plays an important role in the stability of such metastable states. The particle hits on the wall or falls on the centerline when the linear charge density on the particle is greater or less than q(c). The simulation method and the new phenomena are also helpful in the study of charged multiparticle suspensions.

Lattice Boltzmann model with nearly constant density.

An improved lattice Boltzmann model is developed to simulate fluid flow with nearly constant fluid density. The ingredient is to incorporate an extra relaxation for fluid density, which is realized by introducing a feedback equation in the equilibrium distribution functions. The pressure is dominated by the moving particles at a node, while the fluid density is kept nearly constant and explicit mass conservation is retained as well. Numerical simulation based on the present model for the (steady) plane Poiseuille flow and the (unsteady) two-dimensional Womersley flow shows a great improvement in simulation results over the previous models. In particular, the density fluctuation has been reduced effectively while achieving a relatively large pressure gradient.