Dynamics of liquid-liquid demixing: mesoscopic simulations of polymer solutions

In this article, the mesoscopic simulation method dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) is applied to study the dynamics of polymer-solvent liquid-liquid phase separation. It will be shown that the degree of branching has a pronounced effect on the radius of gyration and the centre of mass diffusion of the polymer. Based on the simulation results it can be concluded that the difference in chemical potential between the mixed and the demixed state is the main driving force behind the centre of mass diffusion (and thus phase separation), rather than the reduced radius of gyration due to to polymer chain collapse. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.