Scaling properties of diblock copolymers: dynamic simulations study

Abstract: The influence of monomer-monomer interactions on the scaling exponents and shape characteristics of a single polymer chain in a selective solvent is investigated using Langevin dynamics simulations. By systematically increasing the temperature of the solution, the effects of interactions between blocks on the conformational properties of the chain are explored. The results demonstrate that longer-range interactions cause a transition of a polymer similar to the transition for homopolymers; short-range repulsive interactions between different blocks have a negligible impact on the effective scaling exponents: they are the same regardless of the blocks being globule and coil or ideal and swollen coils.