https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050528
The effect of stiffness in wormlike micelles
Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung,
Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
Corresponding author: a rouault@mpip-mainz.mpg.de
Received:
16
September
1997
Revised:
27
June
1998
Accepted:
29
June
1998
Published online: 15 November 1998
The effect of stiffness in a 2D living polymer system is investigated by Monte-Carlo
simulation in a canonical ensemble. As the flexibility decreases, the mean chain contour
length 
decreases and goes through a local maximum. The mean end to end square
distance shows a non-monotonic behaviour due to the coil-to-rod transition and the decrease
in chain contour length. Near the maximum of chain ordering in the bulk, the chain length
distribution adapts itself to increase the configurational entropy. With the parameters used in
this simulation, it seems that the effect of the stiffness for high stiffness is to decrease as
in the isotropic case, since the ordering decreases again.
PACS: 61.25.Hq – Macromolecular and polymer solutions; polymer melts; swelling / 05.50.+q – Lattice theory and statistics; Ising problems / 64.60.Cn – Order–disorder transformations; statistical mechanics of model systems
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 1998
