Calculation of the Segmental Order Parameter for a Polymer Chain in Good Solvent

✍ Scribed by Zoryana Usatenko; Jens-Uwe Sommer

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 264 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1022-1344
• DOI: 10.1002/mats.200700053

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

We have calculated the segmental tensor order parameter (second moment of orientation distribution function) of flexible polymer chains in a weak good solvent with fixed end‐to‐end distance and fixed segment length. Using the Edwards model for polymer chains with excluded volume interaction, we have performed direct perturbation expansions to obtain the two‐vector correlation function in one loop order. Our results indicate that distribution of tensor order parameter is not homogeneous along the chain as expected for ideal Gaussian statistics. Segmental order is lower as compared to Gaussian chains and decays toward the chain ends. These results are in agreement with computer simulation studies.

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