Conformational Transitions of Non-Grafted Polymers Near an Adsorbing Substrate

TL;DR

This study uses advanced simulations to explore how non-grafted polymers change shape near an adsorbing surface, revealing a hierarchy of phase transitions and a detailed phase diagram.

Contribution

It introduces multicanonical chain-growth simulations to analyze conformational transitions of non-grafted polymers near substrates, providing new insights into their phase behavior.

Findings

Identification of a hierarchy of phase transitions

Mapping of the temperature-solubility phase diagram

Analysis of the free-energy landscape transition paths

Abstract

We have performed multicanonical chain-growth simulations of a polymer interacting with an adsorbing surface. The polymer, which is not explicitly anchored at the surface, experiences a hierarchy of phase transitions between conformations binding and non-binding with the substrate. We discuss the phase diagram in the temperature-solubility plane and highlight the transition ``path'' through the free-energy landscape.