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Interfaces between coexisting phases in polymer mixtures: What can we learn from Monte Carlo simulations?
Author(s) -
Binder Kurt,
Müller Marcus,
Schmid Friederike,
Werner Andreas
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.19991390102
Subject(s) - monte carlo method , statistical physics , ising model , universality (dynamical systems) , polymer , materials science , condensed matter physics , binary number , chemical physics , thermodynamics , physics , mathematics , statistics , arithmetic , composite material
Symmetric binary polymer mixtures are studied by Monte Carlo simulation of the bond fluctuation model, considering both interfaces between coexisting bulk phases and interfaces confined in thin films. It is found that the critical behavior of interfacial tension and width is compatible with that of the Ising model, as expected from the universality principle. In the strong segregation limit, only qualitative but not quantitative agreement with the self‐consistent field (SCF) theory is found. It is argued that the SCF theory requiresbut for the short chains studied (N = 32 effective monomer units per chain), the limit is only reached forclose to unity. Also, the effective χ‐parameter decreases in the interface. It is shown that the interfacial width w does not increase by the adsorption of block copolymers as long as their areal density is still dilute (“mushroom” regime). But a broadening of interfaces does occur for thin films confined between walls at distance D, due to fluctuations that lead tofor short‐range forces, in agreement with experiment.