| 1 |
\documentclass[11pt]{article} |
| 2 |
\usepackage{epsf} |
| 3 |
\usepackage[ref]{overcite} |
| 4 |
\usepackage{setspace} |
| 5 |
\usepackage{tabularx} |
| 6 |
\pagestyle{plain} |
| 7 |
\pagenumbering{arabic} |
| 8 |
\oddsidemargin 0.0cm \evensidemargin 0.0cm |
| 9 |
\topmargin -21pt \headsep 10pt |
| 10 |
\textheight 9.0in \textwidth 6.5in |
| 11 |
\brokenpenalty=10000 |
| 12 |
\renewcommand{\baselinestretch}{1.2} |
| 13 |
\renewcommand\citemid{\ } % no comma in optional reference note |
| 14 |
|
| 15 |
|
| 16 |
\begin{document} |
| 17 |
|
| 18 |
\title{Elucidation of Structural Changes in an Osmotically Swollen Polyacrylate Hydrogel} |
| 19 |
|
| 20 |
\author{Matthew A. Meineke\\ |
| 21 |
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry\\ University of Notre Dame\\ |
| 22 |
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556} |
| 23 |
|
| 24 |
\date{\today} |
| 25 |
\maketitle |
| 26 |
|
| 27 |
|
| 28 |
\section{Proposal Summary} |
| 29 |
|
| 30 |
It has been shown that nerve fibers exhibit discontinuous volume |
| 31 |
changes upon excitation.\cite{Tasaki82} In order to elucidate this |
| 32 |
process, researchers have examined systems of biologically significant |
| 33 |
polymer gels in physiologically reasonable salt |
| 34 |
solutions.\cite{Tasaki92,Horkay2000} Specifically, polyacrylate, a |
| 35 |
cross-linked ionic gel where each monomer unit contains a negative |
| 36 |
charge, was studied. It has been found that varying the ratio of |
| 37 |
divalent to monovalent salt cations in a solution will induce a |
| 38 |
discontinuous volume change in the ionic polymer gel.\cite{Horkay2000} |
| 39 |
However, the actual mechanism of the volume change is still not clear. |
| 40 |
|
| 41 |
I propose to simulate the system of Horkay |
| 42 |
\emph{et al}.\cite{Horkay2000} using Gibbs Monte Carlo techniques in |
| 43 |
order to better understand the mechanism of the volume change. In |
| 44 |
Gibbs Monte Carlo simulations, one simulates a system in the ${\mu}PT$ |
| 45 |
ensemble. The simulation entails two systems that can exchange |
| 46 |
particles and volume to reach an equilibrium. During the simulation, |
| 47 |
water and the mobile ions will be exchanged between a bulk solution |
| 48 |
resivoir and the ionic polymer gel system. |
| 49 |
|
| 50 |
|
| 51 |
|
| 52 |
|
| 53 |
\bibliographystyle{achemso} |
| 54 |
\bibliography{original_proposal} |
| 55 |
|
| 56 |
\end{document} |
