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http://www.complexfluids.ethz.ch/snf19 This project is supported by the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre
We study a Gauss model (GM), a map from time to the bell-shaped Gaussian function to model the deaths per day and country, as a simple, analytically tractable model to make predictions on the coronavirus epidemic. Justified by the sigmoidal nature of a pandemic, i.e., initial exponential spread to eventual saturation, and an agent-based model, we apply the GM to existing data, as of 2 April 2020, from 25 countries during first corona pandemic wave and study the model's predictions. We find that logarithmic daily fatalities caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) are well described by a quadratic function in time. By fitting the data to second order polynomials from a statistical chi(2)-fit with 95% confidence, we are able to obtain the characteristic parameters of the GM, i.e., a width, peak height, and time of peak, for each country separately, with which we extrapolate to future times to make predictions. We provide evidence that this supposedly oversimplifying model might still have predictive power and use it to forecast the further course of the fatalities caused by Covid-19 per country, including peak number of deaths per day, date of peak, and duration within most deaths occur. While our main goal is to present the general idea of the simple modeling process using GMs, we also describe possible estimates for the number of required respiratory machines and the duration left until the number of infected will be significantly reduced. [Schuettler, Janik] Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Dept Chem & Appl Biosci, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland. [Schlickeiser, Reinhard; Schlickeiser, Frank] Ruhr Univ Bochum, Space & Astrophys, D-44780 Bochum, Germany. [Schlickeiser, Reinhard] Christian Albrechts Univ Kiel, Inst Theoret Phys & Astrophys, D-24118 Kiel, Germany. [Kroeger, Martin] Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Dept Mat, Polymer Phys, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland. Schlickeiser, R (corresponding author), Ruhr Univ Bochum, Space & Astrophys, D-44780 Bochum, Germany.; Schlickeiser, R (corresponding author), Christian Albrechts Univ Kiel, Inst Theoret Phys & Astrophys, D-24118 Kiel, Germany.; Kroger, M (corresponding author), Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Dept Mat, Polymer Phys, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland. janiks@student.ethz.ch; rsch@tp4.ruhr-uni-bochum.de; schlickeiser@gmail.com; mk@mat.ethz.ch [hide]
Principal Investigators
Argyrios Karatrantos (PI)
Institute of Science and Technology, Luxembourg ►
Martin Kröger (PI)
Polymer Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland ►
Project Partners
Clement Mugemana
Institute of Science and Technology, Luxembourg ►
Jeremy Odent
Laboratory of polymeric and composite materials, Mons University, Belgium ►
Scientific Staff
Ahmad Moghimikheirabadi
Polymer Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland ►
Secretary
Patricia Horn
Polymer Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland ►
Enjoy your reading
M Kroger,
Developments in Polymer Theory and Simulation
POLYMERS English 12 (2020) 30 ►Selected conferences (co-)organized by project members
3rd Global Summit Nanotechnology & Nanomedicine
Sep 2019, 3rd Global Summit Nanotechnology & Nanomedicine, Barcelona, Spain ►
learn more ►
About this project
Fundamentally important to the processability and the material properties of polymer nanocomposites is the underlying interaction between polymer and nanoparticles, the resulting structure and dynamics. A high degree of nanoparticle dispersion is necessary for an effective reinforcement in a polymer matrix. A recent experimental approach to distributing nanoparticles into a polymer matrix is to let the interaction between nanoparticles and polymer chains to be of ionic nature.Ionic nanoparticles can impart charged polymers with unique mechanical and functional properties such as self-healing and shape memory. Upon studying a single model nanocomposite via molecular simulation, we found that nanoparticle dispersion can indeed be achieved due to the insertion of electrostatic charge, that nanoparticle diffusion slows down due to this electrostatic charge, and that the ionic nanoparticles move according to a hopping mechanism.
These recent findings have the potential to spur new studies in modelling ionic polymer nanocomposites containing ionic functionalized silica nanoparticles.
We hereby propose to focus in a more detailed and conclusive fashion on four combined experimental/theoretical research objectives:
Investigate the role of ionic interactions and calculate viscoelastic properties (viscosity, storage modulus, loss modulus) with nanoparticle loading, for differently charged and sequenced polymers.
Quantify the lifetime of dynamic crosslinks between nanoparticles and polymers, formed in ionic nanocomposites, during deformation processes.
Calculate the dynamics and structure of polymers and their entanglements for differently charged and filled polymer ionic nanocomposite models,
Resolve the role of nanosilica surface confinement on polymer entanglements and dynamics. The novelty of the proposed work stems from the combination of experiments, simulation and theoretical models to capture the interactions and polymer structural/dynamical, as well as rheological phenomena present in these ionic nanocomposites, who seem to offer qualitatively new properties worth being quantified and supplemented with an informed microscopic picture.
Lay-Summary (German only, as required by SNF)Hintergrund: Polymer-Nanokomposite (PNCs) stellen eine zunehmend wichtige Hybrid-Materialklasse dar. Das fehlende Verständnis der chemischen und physikalischen Mechanismen stellt seit Jahrzehnten ein Hindernis bei der weiteren Entwicklung dar. Für die Verarbeitung und die Eigenschaften von PNCs ist die Wechselwirkung zwischen Polymer und Nanoteilchen, sowie die resultierende Struktur und Dynamik von fundamentalem Interesse. Eine gute Dispersion der Nanoteilchen wird für die effiziente Verst&aauml;rkung von Polymer-Muttergewebe benötigt. Einer der neueren Ansätze, die diese Eigenschaft bewerkstelligen soll, ist die Verwendung von ionischen PNCs. Ionische Nanoteilchen können den ionischen Polymeren zudem neuartige mechanische und funktionelle Eigenschaften verleihen. Inhalt und Ziel des Forschungsprojekts ist ein besseres Verstädnis der ionischen PNCs. Dazu untersuchen wir die (i) Rolle von ionischen Wechselwirkungen und berechnen viskoelastische/mechanische Eigenschaften und ihre Abhäigkeit von System-Parametern (Konzentration, Ladungen, Ladungs-Sequenzen); (ii) Lebensdauer von Vernetzungspunkten in PNCs, isbesondere während Deformationsprozessen; (iii) Dynamik und Struktur der Polymere und deren Verschlaufungs-Netzwerke in Abhängigkeit der Ladungs-Sequenz; (iv) Rolle der Oberflächen-Beschaffenheit von Nano-Silikaten. Wissenschaftlicher und gesellschaftlicher Kontext des Forschungsprojekts. Wir möchten neuen Technologien für PNCs den Weg bereiten, die benötigt werden, um leichte, hoch-qualitative, und multifunktionelle Materialien weiter zu entwickeln. Ionische PNCs verprechen nicht nur die genannten mechanischen Eigenschaften, sondern auch ein Potential für Selstheilung, ionische Leitfähigkeit, und selektive Permeabilitä Simulationsmodelle erlauben uns, die genannten Abhäigkeiten im Detail zu untersuchen, und öffnen eue Horizonte für das Design ionischer PNCs für Anwendungen etwa in der Biomedizin, Biotechnologie, Energiespeicherung, Gastrennung.
04 May 2025
mk