Lattice self-consistent field calculations of ring polymer brushes

Abstract

We reported the first systematic study using lattice self-consistent field (LSCF) calculations of ring homopolymer brushes grafted onto a flat and homogeneous surface and immersed in an explicit and athermal solvent, which are either uncompressed, compressed by a flat and impenetrable surface, or compressed by an identical brush. Our results clearly show that ring brushes are slightly less stretched than, thus nearly but not completely identical to, the “equivalent” linear brushes having half the chain length and double the grafting density. Our LSCF results are consistent with the molecular simulation results reported in the literature (Reith et al., Europhys. Lett., 2011, 95, 28003; Erbas and Paturej, Soft Matter, 2015, 11, 3139), except that Erbas and Paturej reported that the normal pressure of two opposing ring brushes is only half of the “equivalent” linear brushes at melt density.