The scattering function of ideal two-dimensional symmetric pom-pom polymers

Abstract

The properties of ideal two-dimensional star and pom-pom polymers containing 601–1263 units are investigated with a Monte Carlo growth method. The mean-square radii of gyration, various g-ratios, and scattering functions are calculated. A graph theory approach is employed to obtain exact scattering functions using a novel technique for counting paths in the graph representation of the polymers. All the simulation results are in very good agreement with theoretical predictions. Pom-poms are more similar to two joined stars with a smaller number of branches, rather than stars with the same number of branches.