Communication: Polarizable polymer chain under external electric field in a dilute polymer solution
- Institut für Nichtklassische Chemie e.V., Universitat Leipzig, Leipzig (Germany)
- G. A. Krestov Institute of Solution Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Laboratory of NMR Spectroscopy and Numerical Investigations of Liquids, Ivanovo (Russian Federation)
We study the conformational behavior of polarizable polymer chain under an external homogeneous electric field within the Flory type self-consistent field theory. We consider the influence of electric field on the polymer coil as well as on the polymer globule. We show that when the polymer chain conformation is a coil, application of external electric field leads to its additional swelling. However, when the polymer conformation is a globule, a sufficiently strong field can induce a globule-coil transition. We show that such “field-induced” globule-coil transition at the sufficiently small monomer polarizabilities goes quite smoothly. On the contrary, when the monomer polarizability exceeds a certain threshold value, the globule-coil transition occurs as a dramatic expansion in the regime of first-order phase transition. The developed theoretical model can be applied to predicting polymer globule density change under external electric field in order to provide more efficient processes of polymer functionalization, such as sorption, dyeing, and chemical modification.
- OSTI ID:
- 22493264
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 143, Issue 20; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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