Two-Component Grafted Polymer Layers

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe report a theoretical study of the equilibrium statistical mechanics of polymer chains end-grafted in the dense liquid state to a surface. We consider the special features which arise when two immiscible polymer species are present. In constrast to ungrafted polymer blends, this system has two distinct scaling regimes of strong immiscibility: endsegregated and fully segregated. We discuss the mixing energy and bistability properties in each regime using approximations valid for large chain elongation.