Structure of Dense Polymer Systems Confined to a Slit

The linear polymer chains were approximated as series of identical segments on a simple cubic lattice. The excluded volume was included into the model with no attractive interactions which corresponded to the good solvent conditions. The polymer chains were put into a slit formed by a pair of parallel surfaces. These walls were impenetrable for polymer segments and no other interactions between walls and chains were assumed. The models chains were studied by the means of the Monte Carlo method. The sampling algorithm was Metropolis-type and employing micromodifications of chain’s conformation to sample efficiently the conformational space. The influence of the chain length, density of the polymer system, and the distance between the surfaces on the shape of macromolecules was studied. It was found that the decrease in the size of the slit and the decrease in the polymer density led to the formation of more spherical macromolecules. This is partially caused by the interpenetration of polymer chains.