Self-consistent field theory for a polymer brush. Part I: Asymptotic analysis in the strong-stretching limit

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Date
2019
Volume
2648
Issue
Journal
Series Titel
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Publisher
Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik
Abstract

In this study we consider the self-consistent field theory for a dry, in- compressible polymer brush, densely grafted on a substrate, describing the average segment density of a polymer in terms of an effective chemical potential for the interaction between the segments of the polymer chain. We present a systematic singular perturbation analysis of the self-consistent field theory in the strong-stretching limit, when the length scale of the ratio of the radius of gyration of the polymer chain to the extension of the brush from the substrate vanishes. Our analysis yields, for the first time, an approximation for the average segment density that is correct to leading order in the outer scaling and resolves the boundary layer singularity at the end of the polymer brush in the strong-stretching limit. We also show that in this limit our analytical results agree increasingly well with our numerical solutions to the full model equations comprising the self-consistent field theory.

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Keywords
Self-consistent field theory, asymptotic analysis, Cole-Hopf transformation, polymer brush
Citation
Münch, A., & Wagner, B. (2019). Self-consistent field theory for a polymer brush. Part I: Asymptotic analysis in the strong-stretching limit (Vol. 2648). Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik. https://doi.org//10.20347/WIAS.PREPRINT.2648
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