Semiflexible grafted polymers in poor solvents: toroidal, archway, and tower micelles.
We study a system of grafted semiflexible polymers in a poor solvent which form toroidal or rodlike conformations in the bulk. However, because of the physical constraint of surface grafting, macrophase separation is inhibited and a number of different polymer aggregates (or micelles) form which can be related to the chains' stiffness and their affinity for each other. In contrast to the fully flexible Gaussian case, we observe a number of novel micelle structures, including tower micelles, archway micelles, and spider micelles. We also attempt to develop a phase diagram for the occurrence of these structures with respect to the variables of chain length, chain stiffness, and polymer grafting density.
Pham
T T
TT
School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Sydney, Australia.
Pattanayek
S K
SK
Pereira
G G
GG