The radius expansion factor and second virial coefficient for polymer chains below the .theta. temperature

Abstract

The radius expansion factor α s as and second virial coeffiicient A 2 for flexible polymers below the θ temperature are investigated within the new framework of theory recently presented. It is then shown that the (quasi-)two-parameter scheme is still valid for as and that the effect of chain ends can explain the observed M independence of A 2 in the range of small molecular weight M for which A 2 does not vanish at θ. As for α s , some aspects of the coil-to-globule transition are discussed somewhat in detail