Adsorption properties of comb-like polymer on nanotube surface.

The adsorption and wrapping process of a single flexible comb-like polymer to a single wall nanotube was studied by Molecular Dynamics simulation of a coarse-grained model. We varied the grafting density and length of the side chains, the radius of the nanotube and strength of interaction between the monomers of nanotube and side chains of polymer brush. We investigated the structural and dynamical characters of interactions of the nanotube-polymer composite, such as the effect of Lennard-Jones energy parameter ɛ and the nanotube radius on the adsorption behavior and how the wrapping conformation is affected by the structure of the polymer brush. The simulation results indicate that single comb-like polymer with flexible backbone tends to adsorb and wrap around the nanotube, when the interaction energy exceeds a critical value. The monomer adsorption ratio, interaction energy profiles and moment of inertia are obtained. The helical wrapping only occurs when the interaction energy is large enough. Also, the influence of the polymer structure on the conformational behavior is analyzed. This work underscores design elements important for engineering well-defined nanotube-polymer nanocomposite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]