Abstract:
A material surface of pure constituents with a flexible molecular chain (amphiphilics) is considered; thermodynamic behaviour is studied in the chain length-temperature plane. The Hamiltonian of the system is modelled as the sum of a formation term which refers to the polymer nature of the chain, and of a fluctuation term with a specific elastic form. For closed systems the model exhibits phases with uniform curvature and conformational order/disorder or, alternatively, modulated phases; a critical chain length is found for the existence of modulated phases; the dependence of transition temperature on energy parameters is determined. A critical region is found for open systems, where conformational disorder drives spontaneous generation of curvature; this lies above a characteristic chain length and around the shape transition temperature.
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Received: 13 November 1996 / Revised: 9 May 1997 / Received in final form: 4 November 1997 / Accepted: 10 November 1997
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Bassetti, B., Mantica, C. & Jona, P. From molecular flexibility to shape, curvature and thermotropic transitions in pure surfaces. Eur. Phys. J. B 1, 359–369 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050195
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050195