On the Phase Nature of Polymer Brush Collapse upon Solvent Deterioration

The phase nature of polymer brush collapse upon deterioration of the solvent was investigated. The analysis is based on the self-consistent field theory and the Flory-Huggins model. It was shown that the transition from good to poor solvent via the theta-point is actually a phase transition of high order. This result contradicts the conventional view on this process as a non-phase one. According to the Ehrenfest classification, this process appears to be a fifth-order phase transition.