### Microscopic approach to inhomogeneous polymeric liquidsMicroscopic approach to inhomogeneous polymeric liquids

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 Author Donley, J. P. ♦ Rajasekaran, J. J. ♦ McCoy, J. D. ♦ Curro, J. G. Source United States Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information Content type Text Language English
 Subject Keyword PHYSICS ♦ POLYMERS ♦ LIQUIDS ♦ EQUILIBRIUM ♦ POTENTIALS ♦ CHAINS ♦ INTEGRAL EQUATIONS ♦ SIMULATION Abstract We discuss a liquid-state theory for the equilibrium structure of inhomogeneous polymeric liquids. The theory consists of an equation for the density profile of a liquid in an external potential, which has been derived previously by density functional methods. In general, this equation must be solved by simulation techniques. However, if the chains are modeled as random walks---which is a reasonable approximation for flexible polymers at melt densities---we show that the theory reduces to a set of coupled integral equations which can be solved numerically. We present results for a single component liquid near a hard wall. Last, we show that, in the Gaussian thread limit, the theory reduces to a form that is very similar to Edwards--Helfand--Tagami self-consistent field theory. However, there are important differences between the two theories for multicomponent liquids (a blend for example) if the types of polymers are structurally dissimilar. {copyright} {ital 1995} {ital American} {ital Institute} {ital of} {ital Physics}. ISSN 00219606 Educational Use Research Learning Resource Type Article Publisher Date 1995-09-22 Publisher Department Sandia National Laboratory Publisher Place United States Journal Journal of Chemical Physics Volume Number 103 Issue Number 12 Organization Sandia National Laboratory