Phase Transitions of a Two-Dimensional Periodic Hydrophilic Hydrophobic Chain

Enzo Orlandini () and Thomas Garel
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Enzo Orlandini: Service de Physique Théorique, CE-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
Thomas Garel: Service de Physique Théorique, CE-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France

International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), 1998, vol. 09, issue 08, 1459-1468

Abstract: We study a single self-avoiding hydrophilic hydrophobic polymer chain, through Monte Carlo lattice simulations. The affinity of monomerifor water is characterized by a (scalar) chargeλi, and the monomer-water interaction is short-ranged. Assuming incompressibility yields an effective short ranged interaction between monomer pairs(i,j), proportional to(λi+ λj). In this article, we takeλi=+1(resp.(λi=-1)) for hydrophilic (resp. hydrophobic) monomers and consider a chain with (i) an equal number of hydrophilic and -phobic monomers (ii) a periodic distribution of theλialong the chain, with periodicity2p. This model may be of interest in various situations (protein folding, polysoaps, …) The simulations are done on the square lattice(d=2), for various chain lengthsN. There is a critical value(pc(N)~0.07N)of the periodicity, which distinguishes between different low temperature structures. Forp>pc, the ground state corresponds to a macroscopic phase separation between a dense hydrophobic core and hydrophilic loops. Forp

Keywords: Polymers; Monte Carlo Simulations; Specific Phase Transitions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1142/S0129183198001321

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