Coarse grained simulation of Molecular-motor Gels.*

In recent years, significant progress has been made in the field of light-driven molecular motors. These motors can convert light energy into uni-directional rotational motion and have promising applications in nanotechnology and drug delivery. To study their cooperative motion, researchers have attached these motors to polymer chains, creating polymer gels known as motor gels. By irradiating these gels with light, the motors undergo directional isomerization, causing the gel to contract or expand. In this study, we present a coarse-grained model to simulate and analyze the volume contraction of these gels. We vary the strand-lengths of the gel and investigate the impact of excluded volume on the contraction ratio. Additionally, we examine the work done by the motors in the gel and observe similar limitations. Finally, we analyze the local entanglements in the system using the Gaussian Linking number and explore the influence of strand-length on the degree of entanglement.