Monte Carlo simulations of polymer surfaces in a cubic lattice, two variations of energy parameter and chain-length

Abstract

Quantities characterising a polymer surface and special bulk phenomena are investigated by use of the model that has been developed for the simulation of amorphous polymer melts in a five-way cubic lattice with few, or even no, vacant sites present in the bulk. The paper deals with changes in the interface region due to the variation of an attractive energy parameter between non-bonded polymer segments and with the influence of varying average chain-length. In addition, several parameters such as fractal dimension, surface enlargement and the excess number of heterocontacts have been introduced for the characterisation of the roughness of a surface and the structure of cavities in the interface layer.