Phase Separation by Entanglement of Active Polymerlike Worms

Abstract

We investigate the aggregation and phase separation of thin, living T. tubifex worms that behave as active polymers. Randomly dispersed active worms spontaneously aggregate to form compact, highly entangled blobs, a process similar to polymer phase separation, and for which we observe power-law growth kinetics. We find that the phase separation of active polymerlike worms does not occur through Ostwald ripening, but through active motion and coalescence of the phase domains. Interestingly, the growth mechanism differs from conventional growth by droplet coalescence: the diffusion constant characterizing the random motion of a worm blob is independent of its size, a phenomenon that can be explained from the fact that the active random motion arises from the worms at the surface of the blob. This leads to a fundamentally different phase-separation mechanism that may be unique to active polymers.

4 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (15)

• Active Particles in Complex and Crowded Environments
• Motility-Induced Phase Separation
• Pressure is not a state function for generic active fluids
• Phase separation and rotor self-assembly in active particle suspensions
• Effective Cahn-Hilliard equation for the phase separation of active Brownian particles
• Globule-like conformation and enhanced diffusion of active polymers
• Lattice Models of Nonequilibrium Bacterial Dynamics
• Interrupted Motility Induced Phase Separation in Aligning Active Colloids
• Motility-induced phase separation and coarsening in active matter
• Freezing a Flock: Motility-Induced Phase Separation in Polar Active Liquids
• Crystallization of self-propelled hard-discs : a new scenario
• Dynamics of active filaments in porous media
• Active Brownian filaments with hydrodynamic interactions: conformations and dynamics
• Rheology of Active Polymer-like T. Tubifex Worms
• \textit{C. elegans} collectively forms dynamical networks

Cited by in corpus (17)

• Active polymer rings: activity-induced collapse and dynamical arrest
• Effects of inertia on conformation and dynamics of tangentially-driven active filaments
• Synchronized oscillations in swarms of nematode Turbatrix aceti
• Dynamics of Active Polar Ring Polymers
• Long-Range Nematic Order in Two-Dimensional Active Matter
• Activity-driven polymer knotting for macromolecular topology engineering
• Long-range translational order and hyperuniformity in two-dimensional chiral active crystal
• Locomotion of Active Polymerlike Worms in Porous Media
• Density and inertia effects on two-dimensional active semiflexible filament suspensions
• Active Polymer Behavior in Two Dimensions: A Comparative Analysis of Tangential and Push-Pull Models
• Tangentially Active Polymers in Cylindrical Channels
• Topological transition in filamentous cyanobacteria: from motion to structure
• Activity-Induced Stiffness, Entanglement Network and Dynamic Slowdown in Unentangled Semidilute Polymer Solutions
• Activity-enhanced shear thinning of flexible linear polar polymers
• Spiral folding of a flexible chain of chiral active particles
• Dynamical Boundary Following and Corner Trapping of Undulating Worms
• Two-dimensional active polar semiflexible polymer under shear flow