DOI: 10.1140/epje/i2002-10105-2
Statistics of a hydrophobic chain near a hydrophobic boundary
P. Önder1 and A. Erzan1, 21 Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences and Letters, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak 80626, Istanbul, Turkey
2 Gürsey Institute, P.O. Box 6, Çengelköy 81220, Istanbul, Turkey
erzan@gursey.gov.tr
erzan@itu.edu.tr
(Received 17 September 2002 and Received in final form 31 December 2002 / Published online: 11 February 2003)
Abstract
We study the behavior of a hydrophobic chain near a hydrophobic boundary
in two dimensions, adapting the decorated lattice model of Berkema and Widom
(G.T. Barkema, B. Widom, J. Chem. Phys. 113, 2349 (2000)) to
obtain effective, temperature-dependent intrachain and chain-boundary
interactions. We use these interactions to construct two model
Hamiltonians. The resulting partition functions may be integrated numerically.
Our results compare favorably with
preliminary Monte Carlo computations, using the same effective interactions.
At relatively
low temperatures and at high temperatures, we find that the
chain is randomly configured in the ambient water, and detached from the
wall, whereas at intermediate temperatures it adsorbs onto the wall in a
stretched or partially folded state, again depending upon the temperature,
and the energy of solvation.
05.50.+q - Lattice theory and statistics (Ising, Potts, etc.).
64.75.+g - Solubility, segregation, and mixing; phase separation.
87.15.Aa - Theory and modeling; computer simulation.
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2002
