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Lattice model for cold and warm swelling of polymers in water

Pierpaolo Bruscolini, Lapo Casetti

cond-mat.stat-mecharXiv:cond-mat/9912085

Abstract

We define a lattice model for the interaction of a polymer with water. We solve the model in a suitable approximation. In the case of a non-polar homopolymer, for reasonable values of the parameters, the polymer is found in a non-compact conformation at low temperature; as the temperature grows, there is a sharp transition towards a compact state, then, at higher temperatures, the polymer swells again. This behaviour closely reminds that of proteins, that are unfolded at both low and high temperatures.

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