Soft interaction between dissolved flexible dendrimers: Theory and experiment

Using small-angle neutron scattering and liquid integral equation theory, w e relate the structure factor of flexible dendrimers of fourth generation t o their average shape. The shape is measured as a radial density profile of monomers belonging to a single dendrimer. From that, we derive an effectiv e interaction of Gaussian form between pairs of dendrimers and compute the structure factor using the hypernetted chain approximation. Excellent agree ment with the corresponding experimental results is obtained, without the u se of adjustable parameters. The present analysis thus strongly supports th e previous finding that flexible dendrimers of low generation present fluct uating structures akin to star polymers.