CONFORMATIONAL PROPERTIES OF DIBLOCK COPOLYMERS - MONTE-CARLO CALCULATIONS AND COMPARISON WITH THE RENORMALIZATION-GROUP PREDICTIONS

The conformational properties of an AB diblock copolymer chain with di fferent kinds of interactions between the units are studied by off-lat tice Monte Carlo simulation. Using the Pivot algorithm, we calculate t he radii of gyration, the end-to-end square distances of the individua l blocks and of the whole molecule, the distance between the two cente rs of masses, and other static properties for various molecular weight s and different solvent conditions. From these results, we obtain the dimensionless ratios that describe the effects of the AB heterocontact s relative to the precursor homopolymers. These quantities are compare d with previous theoretical predictions.