Simulation on the Static and Dynamic Properties of Linear, Comb-like and Star-like Polymers

We studied the static and dynamic properties of linear, comb-like and star-like polymers by means of molecular dynamics method. We found star-like polymers had the smallest size, and linear polymers had the largest size at the same chain length. Changing the chain topologies from linear to comb-like and star-like will lead to the great dependence of the scaling relationship of radius of gyration on both the degree of polymerization and the number of side chains or the arms. For star polymers, the increase of the number of arms results inthe decrease of the radius of gyration and increase of the diffusion coefficients. Moreover, the scaling relationship for radius of gyrations for star polymers and comb polymer is also obtained. These results may help people understand the physical insight of the topological structure dependence on the static and dynamic properties of polymer chains.