Selected Publications
- M. Muthukumar, Ordinary-extraordinary transition in dynamics of solutions of charged macromolecules, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA), 113, 12627-12632 (2016).
- B. Jeon and M. Muthukumar, Electrostatic control of polymer translocation speed through alpha-hemolysin protein pore, Macromolecules, 49, 9132-9138 (2016).
- M. Muthukumar, Electrostatic correlations in polyelectrolyte solutions, Polymer Science, Series A, 58, 852-863 (2016).
- D. Mondal and M. Muthukumar, Stochastic resonance during a polymer translocation process, J. Chem. Phys. 144, 144901 (2016).
- S. Morozova and M. Muthukumar, Elasticity at swelling equilibrium of ultrasoft polyelectrolyte gels: Comparisons of theory and experiments, Macromolecules, 50, 2456-2466 (2017).
FRIAS Project
Sensing of single polymer molecules with nanopores: joining the forces of theory and experiment.
There is tremendous scientific and technological interest in promulgating platforms for single-molecule sensing in the context of biotechnology, drug delivery, and sequencing technologies. The general premise of translocation of charged molecules through narrow constrictions, which is presently ubiquitous to the sought-out technologies, is extremely rich and challenging. The various issues involve collective behaviors of charged macromolecules, electrolyte behavior, structure of water under confinement, and electro-hydrodynamics. The proposed collaboration brings the best teams in the world in terms of complementary skill sets of theory/modeling and experimentation. The outcome of the proposed teamwork is a fundamental understanding of singlemolecule sensing and device fabrication for societal impact.