The size and shape of snowflake-shaped polymers in dilute solution: Analytical and numerical approaches

K Haydukivska and V Blavatska and J Paturej, JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR LIQUIDS, 392, 123430 (2023).

DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2023.123430

We investigate the conformational properties of a hyper-branched polymer structure with a dendrimer-like topology, known as a snowflake polymer. This polymer is characterized by two parameters: f(s), which represents the functionality of the central star-like core, and f, which represents the functionality of the side branching points. To analyze the conformational properties, we have employed various approaches, including analytical methods based on direct polymer renormalization and the Wei's approach as well as numerical molecular dynamics simulations. These methods have allowed us to estimate a size and shape characteristics of the snowflake polymer as functions of f and f(s). Our results consistently illustrate that as the number of branching points increases, the typical polymer conformation becomes more effectively compact compared to a linear polymer. Overall, our study provides valuable insights into the conformational behavior of the snowflake polymer and highlights the impact of branching parameters on its overall compactness.

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