Structure of polymer films in adsorbing slit: A computer simulation study

Abstract

The introduction of confinement has an impact on most properties of polymer chains. A coarse-grained model of branched polymers confined in a slit formed by two parallel impenetrable surfaces which were attractive for polymer segments was developed and studied. The model chains were regular stars consisted of three branches of equal length. The positions of chains were restricted to vertices of a simple cubic lattice. The chains were at good solvent conditions and, therefore, the excluded volume was the only interaction between the segments of the chain. The properties of the model systems were determined by means of dynamic Monte Carlo simulations with a sampling algorithm based on chain's local changes of conformation. The dependence of polymer density in the slit on a structure of the macromolecular film was studied. An interesting mechanism of the chain motion – jumps between surfaces – was also shown.