Abstract: The effect of polymer chain on the formation of surfactant micelles and the variation of polymer configurational properties are simulated. Results show that polymer chain helps the formation of surfactant micelles if the strength of the interaction between the polymer chain and surfactant exceeds a critical value, which decreases with the increase of the chain length. The value CAC/CMC, ratio of the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) to the critical micelle concentration (CMC), decreases with the increase of the chain length and the interaction strength between the polymer chain and surfactant. There is only dynamic adsorption between the chain and surfactant when surfactant concentration X< CAC; after CAC, however, the size of the surfactant micelle increases and the static adsorption between polymer chain and micelles brings about. The mean-square end-to-end distance 〈R2〉 and mean asphericity 〈A〉are almost constants at very small X, but they drop steeply when X reaches CAC, and finally they increase when the micelles are large enough. Simulation results show that the polymer chain always wraps outside of the surfactant micelles, which supports the experimental model of polymer chain wrapping micelles.

Key words: Polymer chain, Surfactant, Micelle, Monte Carlo simulation