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Collapse of Telechelic Star Polymers to Water-Melon Structures

Federica Lo Verso·Christos N. Likos·Christian Mayer·Hartmut Loewen
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Abstract

Conformational properties of star-shaped polymer aggregates that carry attractive end-groups, called telechelic star polymers, are investigated by simulation and analytical variational theory. We focus on the case of low telechelic star polymer functionalities, $f \leq 5$, a condition which allows aggregation of all attractive monomers on one site. We establish the functionality- and polymerization-number dependence of the transition temperature from the "star burst'' to the "water melon" macroparticle structure. Extensions to telechelic stars featuring partially collapsed configurations are also discussed.

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Federica Lo Verso, Christos N. Likos, Christian Mayer, Hartmut Loewen. 2006-03-07. Collapse of Telechelic Star Polymers to Water-Melon Structures. https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0603152

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