Influence of solvent quality on polymer solutions: a Monte Carlo study of bulk and interfacial properties

Abstract

The effect of solvent quality on dilute and semi-dilute regimes of polymers in solution is studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The equation of state, adsorptions near a hard wall, wall-polymer surface tension and effective depletion potentials are all calculated as a function of concentration and solvent quality. We find important differences between polymers in good and theta solvents. In the dilute regime, the physical properties for polymers in a theta solvent closely resemble those of ideal polymers. In the semi-dilute regime, however, significant differences are found.