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Ordered Arrangements of Semiflexible Polymers at the Interface with Solids
Author(s) -
Vacatello Michele
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
macromolecular theory and simulations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-3919
pISSN - 1022-1344
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3919(20020101)11:1<53::aid-mats53>3.0.co;2-n
Subject(s) - radius of gyration , polymer , monte carlo method , gyration , materials science , transverse plane , surface (topology) , square (algebra) , chemical physics , contact angle , mean square , radius , molecular physics , crystallography , chemistry , geometry , composite material , mathematics , statistics , structural engineering , engineering , computer security , computer science
The molecular arrangements and conformations of dense systems of semiflexible polymer chains near solid surfaces have been investigated by Monte Carlo simulations. At variance with the results obtained for more flexible chains, the mean square end‐to‐end distance and the mean square radius of gyration of chains in contact with the surfaces are found to be much higher than in the bulk. This is related to the increased length of the surface trains and to the increased tendency of such trains to form rod‐like strands. As a result, the first layer of polymer units in contact with the surfaces consists of two‐dimensional domains of locally parallel chain segments. The width of these domains is several times the transverse diameter of the chains.