POLYMER ADSORPTION ON LATERALLY HETEROGENEOUS SURFACES - A MONTE-CARLO COMPUTER-MODEL

We have developed an analytical model and Monte Carlo simulations to examine the adsorption of polymers onto laterally heterogeneous surfaces. The surface is composed of both S1 and S2 regions (stripes, checkerboards, random arrangements), and the chains have a higher binding affinity for the S1 sites. In the case where the number of S1 and S2 sites are held constant, decreasing the size of the respective regions will improve the segregation of the chains onto S1. Increasing the length of the polymer chain also affects the degree of segregation. These predictions are useful in improving the effectiveness of techniques aimed at controlling both the lateral and vertical properties of surfaces.