The Equilibrium Theory of Inhomogeneous Polymers

Download or read book The Equilibrium Theory of Inhomogeneous Polymers written by Glenn Fredrickson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Equilibrium Theory of Inhomogeneous Polymers provides an introduction to the field-theoretic methods and computer simulation techniques that are used in the design of structured polymeric fluids. By such methods, the principles that dictate equilibrium self-assembly in systems ranging from block and graft copolymers, to polyelectrolytes, liquid crystalline polymers, and polymer nanocomposites can be established. Building on an introductory discussion of single-polymerstatistical mechanics, the book provides a detailed treatment of analytical and numerical techniques for addressing the conformational properties of polymers subjected to spatially-varying potential fields. This problem is shown to be central to the field-theoretic description of interacting polymericfluids, and models for a number of important polymer systems are elaborated. Chapter 5 serves to unify and expound the topic of self-consistent field theory, which is a collection of analytical and numerical techniques for obtaining solutions of polymer field theory models in the mean-field approximation. The concluding Chapter 6 provides a discussion of analytical methods for going beyond the mean-field approximation and an introduction to the exciting new field of field-theoretic polymersimulations - the direct numerical simulation of polymer field theory models. No other book brings together in such a detailed and instructive fashion the theoretical and numerical tools for investigating the equilibrium structure and thermodynamics of meso-structured polymer formulations, includingthose relevant to soft material nanotechnologies, personal care products, and multiphase plastic materials.