0000000000060824
AUTHOR
V. Yamakov
Inter-Chain Structure Factors of Flexible Polymers in Solutions: A Monte Carlo Investigation
Off-lattice Monte Carlo simulations of both the single chain structure factor h(q) and the inter-chain structure factor HD(q) of flexible polymers in solutions are presented over a wide range of both wavenumber q and concentration c from the dilute to the concentrated regime, for chain lengths up to N = 256. The single chain properties $\{$gyration radius 〈Rg2〉, $h(q)\}$ are in reasonable agreement with the expected theoretical behavior, showing a crossover from swollen chains $\{\langle R_{\rm g}^2\rangle \propto N^{2\nu} ,~ h(q) \propto q^{-1/\nu}\}$ to Gaussian chains, and the data comply with a scaling description, with a correlation length ξ∝c-ν/(3ν-1). However, the inter-chain structu…
Escape transition of a compressed polymer mushroom under good solvent conditions
The escape transition of a flexible polymer chain of chain length N, endgrafted at a hard wall and compressed by a piston of radius R, is studied by Monte Carlo simulation and by phenomenological arguments. In contrast to previous theories which have considered the transition as a function of a (fixed) height H of the piston above the wall, we consider the transition as a function of the conjugate variable, the force f acting on the piston. We find that the transition (which is sharp only for N → ∞) is characterized by a flat region of f in the f vs. H isotherm, i.e. a jump in the height occurs at the transition from Hesc,t to Himp,t, with (Himp,t − Hesc,t)/Hesc,t ≈ 0.26.