Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 34, Number 8, June II 1996
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 563 - 568 | |
Section | Condensed matter: structure, thermal and mechanical properties | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i1996-00495-1 | |
Published online | 01 September 2002 |
Single-chain collapse as a first-order transition: model for PEO in water
1
Materials Research Laboratory, University of California,
Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
2
Institut für Festkörperforschung, Forschungzentrum Jülich,
Postfach 1913, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
3
Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung - Postfach 3148,
D-55021 Mainz, Germany
A simple model for polyethyleneoxide (PEO) is introduced and
analyzed by
Monte Carlo simulation. The occurrence of a solvation shell of
PEO in water
is modeled by two internal states of the monomers with an energy
difference
. In the solvated state the monomer excluded volume
increases due
to the bound water and prevents the collapse of the poor-solvent
backbone. As
a function of
, which can be positive or negative,
we find for
a first-order collapse transition,
while for
the standard
-point is
recovered. Thus, if
the solvation shell is accompanied by a lower internal energy
(
as for PEO), the transition is always of first
order.
PACS: 61.25.Hq – Macromolecular and polymer solutions; polymer melts / 64.70.-p – Phase equilibria, phase transitions, and critical points of specific substances / 64.75.+g – Solubility, segregation, and mixing
© EDP Sciences, 1996
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