APS March Meeting 2014
Volume 59, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 3–7, 2014;
Denver, Colorado
Session A19: Focus Session: Theory and Simulations of Macromolecules I - Self Consistent Field Theory
8:00 AM–11:00 AM,
Monday, March 3, 2014
Room: 404
Sponsoring
Unit:
DPOLY
Chair: Roland Faller, University of California, Davis
Abstract ID: BAPS.2014.MAR.A19.13
Abstract: A19.00013 : Self-consistent field theory of wormlike chains and its applications in polymer physics
10:24 AM–11:00 AM
Preview Abstract
Abstract
Author:
Jeff Z.Y. Chen
(University of Waterloo)
In recent years, a whole body of knowledge has been built on the structural
and conformational properties of polymers, based on the Gaussian description
of polymer statistics. Whether we are dealing with a single polymer or
spatially inhomogeneous polymer systems, the solution of the self-consistent
field theory has been one of the central focuses of theoretical studies. A
wormlike-chain model, which differs from a Gaussian-chain model by using a
bond-bending energy rather than monomer-monomer stretching energy, is more
suitable for dealing with semiflexible polymers; a self-consistent field
theory can be built for systems where both spatial inhomogeneity and
orientational ordering need simultaneously considered.
The wormlike chain model captures a number of physical features of a polymer
system that go beyond those described by a Gaussian-chain model. A
wormlike-chain based self-consistent field theory can be used to study the
structural properties within the length scale smaller than the persistence
length and the length scale where the polymer is strongly extended to an
almost fully stretched conformation. As well, such a theory can be used to
study a system where the orientational properties of polymer segments are
important such as a liquid-crystal system.
In this talk, we review the progress in solving the self-consistent field
theory of wormlike chains for various physical problems and specifically
discuss two recent examples of the applications of the theory: (a) the
influence of chain rigidity on the phase diagram of AB diblock copolymers
[Y. Jiang and J. Z. Y. Chen, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{110}, 138305 (2013);
Phys. Rev. E \textbf{88}, 042603 (2013) ]; and (b) liquid-crystal defect
structures in confined geometry [J. Z. Y. Chen, Soft Matter \textbf{9},
10921 (2013)]. As well, we address the question that under what physical
conditions, the self-consistent field theory of wormlike chains recovers the
theory of Gaussian chains.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2014.MAR.A19.13