Untersuchung polymerischer Stabilsation in kolloidalen Systemen unter Verwendung neuartiger feldtheoretischer Simulationen

• Applicant: Dr. Ellen Reister
• Subject Area: Preparatory and Physical Chemistry of Polymers
• Term: from 2003 to 2004
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5404135

In the project various mechanisms of stabilization in colloidal systems through polymers will be studied. Previous analyses of interactions between colloidal particles have often used self consistent field (SCF) theory, which is essentially a mean-field theory. Approximations that estimate the radius of the colloidal particle to be much larger than the polymer extensions have also commonly been applied. We plan to go beyond mean-field theory and these approximations by employing field theoretic simulations (FTS) in an appropriate coordinate system, which will initially be used to examine steric stabilization, caused by polymers grafted to the colloidal particles. FTS and SCF calculations both depend on a field theoretic description of the regarded system. We aim to study the validity of the mean-field theory by comparing FTS results with SCF calculations that rely on the same field theoretic description. Both FTS and SCF theory will further be extended to study other possible stabilization mechanisms for example in systems of colloidal particles with or without tethered polymer chains in a polymer melt, or in systems where stabilization may be achieved through copolymers or charged polymers.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships