CONFORMATIONAL PROPERTIES OF FLEXIBLE POLYMER-CHAINS IN HIGHLY CONFINED ENVIRONMENTS

In this work we describe a detailed study of the conformational proper ties of flexible polymer chains confined into rigid wall spherical cav ities of different sizes, with dimensions comparable to those of the c hains. An off-lattice Monte Carlo algorithm has been used to simulate the behavior of excluded-volume, freely jointed chains in a wide range of concentrations. The considered properties include the size and sha pe of the chains, different densities of the system, and the orientati on of certain characteristic vectors. All these properties are analyze d as a function of the position in the spherical cavity, trying to det ermine how each property is affected by the presence of the spherical rigid wall. A comparison with the results found in the literature for polymer systems confined between infinite parallel plates is done when ever possible, with some significant differences. (C) 1997 American In stitute of Physics.