Diffusive growth of a polymer layer by in sity polymerization

TL;DR

This paper models the growth of a polymer layer on a surface via in-situ polymerization, predicting a pseudo-brush structure with specific density and height scaling laws, validated by simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework combining mean-field and scaling theories to describe polymer layer growth during in-situ polymerization.

Findings

Density profile scales as z^{-2/3}

Layer height scales as t^{3}

Monte Carlo simulations confirm theoretical predictions

Abstract

We consider the growth of a polymer layer on a flat surface in a good solvent by in-situ polymerization. This is viewed as a modified form of diffusion-limited aggregation without branching. We predict theoretically the formation of a pseudo-brush with density rhog(z) \propto z^{-2/3} and characteristic height \propto t^{3}. These results are found by combining a mean-field treatment of the diffusive growth (marginally valid in three dimensions) with a scaling theory (Flory exponent nu =3/5) of the growing polymers. We confirm their validity by Monte Carlo simulations.