Polymers near metal surfaces: Selective adsorption and global conformations

We study the properties of a polycarbonate melt near a nickel surface as a model system for the interaction of polymers with metal surfaces by employing a multiscale modeling approach. For bulk properties, a suitably coarse-grained bead-spring model is simulated by molecular dynamics methods with model parameters directly derived from quantum chemical calculations. The surface interactions are parametrized and incorporated by extensive quantum mechanical density functional calculations using the Car-Parrinello method. We find strong chemisorption of chain ends, resulting in significant modifications of the melt composition when compared to an inert wall.