Related papers: Flory theory revisited
The dependence on volume fraction $\varphi$ of the Flory-Huggins $\chi_{\mathrm{wp}}\left(\varphi\right)$ describing the free energy of mixing of polymers in water is obtained by exploiting the connection of…
We study the conformational behavior of polarizable polymer chain under an external homogeneous electric field within the Flory type self-consistent field theory. We consider the influence of electric field on the polymer coil as well as on…
We develop a continuum theory for equilibrium elasticity of a network of crosslinked semiflexible filaments, spanning the full range between flexible entropy-driven chains to stiff athermal rods. We choose the 3-chain constitutive model…
The aim of this paper is twofold: - To give an elementary and self-contained proof of an explicit formula for the free energy for a general class of polymer chains interacting with an environment through periodic potentials. This…
A recently proposed "DFT+dispersion" treatment (Rajchel et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2010, 104, 163001) is described in detail and illustrated by more examples. The formalism derives the dispersion-free density functional theory (DFT)…
We present a simple analytical theory of flexible polymer chain dissolved in a good solvent, carrying permanent freely oriented dipoles on the monomers. We take into account the dipole correlations within the random phase approximation…
A statistical mechanical description of flexible and semi-flexible polymer chains in a poor solvent is developed in the constant force and constant distance ensembles. We predict the existence of many intermediate states at low temperatures…
This paper considers an undirected polymer chain on $\mathbb{Z}^d$, $d \geq 2$, with i.i.d.\ random charges attached to its constituent monomers. Each self-intersection of the polymer chain contributes an energy to the interaction…
Using the language of the Flory chi parameter, we develop a theory that unifies the treatment of the single-chain structure and the solution thermodynamics of polymers in poor solvents. The structure of a globule and its melting…
Predicting the macroscopic mechanical behavior of polymeric materials from the micro-structural features has remained a challenge for decades. Existing theoretical models often fail to accurately capture the experimental data, due to…
The Flory-Huggins theory is a well-established lattice model that is commonly used to study the mixing of distinct chemical species. It can successfully predict phase separation phenomena in blends of incompatible materials. However, it is…
We have developed a theory of polymer entanglement using an extended Cahn-Hilliard functional, with two extra terms. One is a nonlocal attractive term, operating over mesoscales, which is interpreted as giving rise to entanglement, and the…
Many water soluble polymers are chemically modified versions of insoluble base materials such as cellulose. A Flory-Huggins model is solved to determine the effects of heterogeneity in modification on the solubility of such polymers. It is…
The competition between chain entropy and bending rigidity in compact polymers can be addressed within a lattice model introduced by P.J. Flory in 1956. It exhibits a transition between an entropy dominated disordered phase and an…
A variational approach is considered to calculate the free energy and the conformational properties of a polyelectrolyte chain in $d$ dimensions. We consider in detail the case of pure Coulombic interactions between the monomers, when…
A Brownian dynamics algorithm is used to describe the static behaviour of associative polymer solutions. Predictions for the fractions of stickers bound by intra-chain and inter-chain association, as a function of system parameters, such as…
Although the stretching of polymers and biomolecules is important in numerous settings, their response when confined to two-dimensions is relatively poorly-studied. In this paper, we derive closed-form analytical expressions for the…
The wormlike chain model of stiff polymers is a nonlinear $\sigma$-model in one spacetime dimension in which the ends are fluctuating freely. This causes important differences with respect to the presently available theory which exists only…
We develop a new quantitative molecular theory of liquid-phase dipolar polymer gels. We model monomer units of the polymer network as a couple of charged sites separated by a fluctuating distance. For the first time, within the random phase…
We study the conformation and dynamics of a single polymer chain that is pulled by a constant force applied at its one end with the other end free. Such a situation is relevant to the growing technology of manipulating individual…