title: A New Self-Consistent Field Model of Polymer/Nanoparticle Mixture.
abstract: Field-theoretical method is efficient in predicting assembling structures of polymeric systems. However, it's challenging to generalize this method to study the polymer/nanoparticle mixture due to its multi-scale nature. Here, we develop a new field-based model which unifies the nanoparticle description with the polymer field within the self-consistent field theory. Instead of being "ensemble-averaged" continuous distribution, the particle density in the final morphology can represent individual particles located at preferred positions. The discreteness of particle density allows our model to properly address the polymer-particle interface and the excluded-volume interaction. We use this model to study the simplest system of nanoparticles immersed in the dense homopolymer solution. The flexibility of tuning the interfacial details allows our model to capture the rich phenomena such as bridging aggregation and depletion attraction. Insights are obtained on the enthalpic and/or entropic origin of the structural variation due to the competition between depletion and interfacial interaction. This approach is readily extendable to the study of more complex polymer-based nanocomposites or biology-related systems, such as dendrimer/drug encapsulation and membrane/particle assembly.
authors.affiliation: Center for Soft Condensed Matter Physics &Interdisciplinary Research, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.|Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics China, CAS, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center for Soft Condensed Matter Physics &Interdisciplinary Research, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Hui-shu
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.|Center for Soft Condensed Matter Physics &Interdisciplinary Research, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Bo-kai
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China.|Center for Soft Condensed Matter Physics &Interdisciplinary Research, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Soft Condensed Matter Physics &Interdisciplinary Research, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China.|Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics China, CAS, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Wen-de
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Tian
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