Generalized van der Waals density functional theory for nonuniform polymers

A density functional theory is presented for the effect of attractions on the structure of polymers at surfaces. The theory treats the ideal gas functional exactly, and uses a weighted density approximation for the hard chain contribution to the excess free energy functional. The attractive interactions are treated using a van der Waals approximation. The theory is in good agreement with computer simulations for the density profiles at surfaces for a wide range of densities and temperatures, except for low polymer densities at low temperatures where it overestimates the depletion of chains from the surface. This deficiency is attributed to the neglect of liquid state correlations in the van der Waals term of the free energy functional. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(00)50203-7].