Star polymer chains in confined geometries: theory and simulations
Authors:
- Zoriana Danel,
- Joanna Hałun,
- Paweł Karbowniczek
Abstract
The investigation of the influence of the star polymer topology on the depletion interaction potentials, the depletion forces and the monomer density profiles was investigated analytically in the framework of the Gaussian model and by molecular dynamic simulations. The calculations of the dimensionless depletion interaction potentials, dimensionless depletion forces and the layer monomer density profiles for a dilute solution of ideal star polymers with f = 3,4,5 arms in a Θsolvent confined in a slit geometry of two parallel walls with repulsive surfaces and for the mixed case of one repulsive and the other inert surface were performed. Furthermore, taking into account the Derjaguin approximation, the dimensionless layer monomer density profiles for ideal star polymers with different number of armss f = 3,4,5 immersed in a dilute solution of big colloidal particles with different adsorbing or repelling properties with respect to polymers were calculated. The density-force relation for the above-mentioned cases was analysed. Taking into account the small sphere expansion allowed to obtain the monomer density profiles for a dilute solution of ideal star polymers with different number of arms immersed in a solution of small spherical particles, or nano-particles of finite size, which are much smaller than the polymer size and the other characteristic mesoscopic length of the system. Besides, we performed molecular dynamics simulation of a dilute solution of star-shaped polymers with N = 901 (3 × 300 + 1-star polymer with three arms), 1201 (4 × 300 + 1-star polymer with four arms) and 1501 (5 × 300 + 1-star polymer with five arms) beads accordingly. The obtained analytical and numerical results for star polymers are compared with the results for linear polymer chains in confined geometries. The obtained results indicate that a dilute solution of star polymer chains can be used for the production of new functional materials because the behaviour of these solutions depends on the topology of polymers, as well as on the nature and geometry of confined surfaces. These properties can find wide practical application in nanotechnology, as well as in biotechnology for drug and gene transmission.
- Record ID
- CUTbb61d635bbf84365a3acf13003f0c058
- Publication categories
- ; ;
- Author
- Pages
- 32
- Substantive notes
- Inf. na s. tyt.: Dedicated to 50th anniversary of Georgi Nadjakov Institute of Solid State Physics Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
- Miejsce wyd. wg siedziby org. konf.
- Wydaw. wg org. konf.
- Book
- 22nd International School on Condensed Matter Physics : State of the Art in Functional Materials & Technologies, August 29th – September 2nd, 2022, Varna, Bulgaria : book of abstracts, 2022, Sofia, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
- Keywords in English
- polymer physics, theory, soft matter
- URL
- http://iscmp.issp.bas.bg/ Opening in a new tab
- Language
- eng (en) English
- License
- Score (nominal)
- 0
- Uniform Resource Identifier
- https://cris.pk.edu.pl/info/article/CUTbb61d635bbf84365a3acf13003f0c058/
- URN
urn:pkr-prod:CUTbb61d635bbf84365a3acf13003f0c058
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