Issue 44, 2013
From the journal:

Soft Matter

Star polymers confined in a nanoslit: a simulation test of scaling and self-consistent field theories

Jaroslaw Paturej,ab   Andrey Milchev,cd   Sergei A. Egorov*e  and  Kurt Binderc  

* Corresponding authors

a Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3290, USA

b Institute of Physics, University of Szczecin, Wielkopolska 15, 10451 Szczecin, Poland

c Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Staudinger Weg 7, 55099 Mainz, Germany

d Institute of Physical Chemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia 1113, Bulgaria

e Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901, USA
E-mail: sae6z@virginia.edu

Abstract

The free energy cost of confining a star polymer where f flexible polymer chains containing N monomeric units are tethered to a central unit in a slit with two parallel repulsive walls a distance D apart is considered, for good solvent conditions. Also the parallel and perpendicular components of the gyration radius of the star polymer, and the monomer density profile across the slit are obtained. Theoretical descriptions via Flory theory and scaling treatments are outlined, and compared to numerical self-consistent field calculations (applying the Scheutjens–Fleer lattice theory) and to Molecular Dynamics results for a bead-spring model. It is shown that Flory theory and self-consistent field (SCF) theory yield the correct scaling of the parallel linear dimension of the star with N, f and D, but cannot be used for estimating the free energy cost reliably. We demonstrate that the same problem occurs already for the confinement of chains in cylindrical tubes. We also briefly discuss the problem of a free or grafted star polymer interacting with a single wall, and show that the dependence of confining force on the functionality of the star is different for a star confined in a nanoslit and a star interacting with a single wall, which is due to the absence of a symmetry plane in the latter case.

Graphical abstract: Star polymers confined in a nanoslit: a simulation test of scaling and self-consistent field theories

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C3SM51275D
Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 May 2013
Accepted
06 Jul 2013
First published
15 Jul 2013

Soft Matter, 2013,9, 10522-10531

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Star polymers confined in a nanoslit: a simulation test of scaling and self-consistent field theories

J. Paturej, A. Milchev, S. A. Egorov and K. Binder, Soft Matter, 2013, 9, 10522 DOI: 10.1039/C3SM51275D

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