Figure 7
Representative traces of the order parameter, S = < (3 cos2θ − 1)/2>, where θ are the angles between the principal axes of the tethered alkanethiols and the pulling direction (z axis), from the SMD simulations in different reservoir fluids. Further examples are shown in the supplementary material. The blue and red curves represent the same sequences as in Fig. 5, and the stars represent the locations of the maximum retracting forces. While the change in order upon approach is similar for all three fluids, upon retraction in seawater (SW) the alkanethiols undergo the greatest variation in order.
