https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2014-14012-7
Regular Article
Hyperbranched polymer stars with Gaussian chain statistics revisited
1
Institut Charles Sadron, Université de Strasbourg & CNRS, 23 rue du Loess, 67034, Strasbourg Cedex, France
2
FMF, University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Str. 21, D-79104, Freiburg, Germany
* e-mail: joachim.wittmer@ics-cnrs.unistra.fr
Received:
19
December
2013
Revised:
3
February
2014
Accepted:
11
February
2014
Published online:
27
February
2014
Conformational properties of regular dendrimers and more general hyperbranched polymer stars with Gaussian statistics for the spacer chains between branching points are revisited numerically. We investigate the scaling for asymptotically long chains especially for fractal dimensions d f = 3 (marginally compact) and d f = 2.5 (diffusion limited aggregation). Power-law stars obtained by imposing the number of additional arms per generation are compared to truly self-similar stars. We discuss effects of weak excluded-volume interactions and sketch the regime where the Gaussian approximation should hold in dense solutions and melts for sufficiently large spacer chains.
Key words: Soft Matter: Polymers and Polyelectrolytes
© EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2014