Interaction between grafted polymeric brushes: A molecular-dynamics study

Abstract

We present a molecular-dynamics study of a system of end-grafted polymers between parallel surfaces. We find that the forces between the surfaces as a function of their separation can be described both by scaling and self-consistent field theories and agree with the experiments of Taunton et al. We quantify the amount of interpenetration of the two brushes and describe it with a simple scaling form. Overall monomer density profiles as well as the contribution from each brush are also presented.