Polymer Adsorption on Curved Surfaces: Finite chain length corrections

TL;DR

This paper investigates how finite polymer chain lengths affect adsorption properties on curved surfaces, extending mean-field theories beyond the infinite chain approximation to include correction terms.

Contribution

It introduces leading order corrections for finite chain lengths in polymer adsorption models on curved surfaces, improving upon the ground state dominance approximation.

Findings

Finite chain length corrections significantly influence surface tension.

Spontaneous curvature and rigidity constants are affected by chain length.

Theoretical framework extends existing models to more realistic finite chains.

Abstract

The structural properties of polymers adsorbed onto a surface have been widely investigated using self-consistent mean-field theories. Recently, analytical mean-field theories have been applied to study polymer adsorption on curved surfaces but all in the context of the ground state dominance approximation in which the polymer chain length (N) is essentially infinite. Using an expression for the free energy by Semenov, we determine leading order (in 1/N) corrections due to the finiteness of the polymer chain length on surface tension, spontaneous curvature, and rigidity constants.