Theory of monolayers of non-Gaussian polymer chains grafted onto a surface. Part 1.—General theory

A theory describing layers of polymer chains grafted to a flat surface (polymer ‘brush’) is developed. We consider a brush of chains with arbitrary extensibility and, within the framework of molecular field theory, we suggest a general scheme for calculating the self-consistent pseudo-potential, which determines the structure of the brush. This potential appears to be defined only by the mechanism of extensibility and is independent of the interactions between chains in the brush. A model potential for freely jointed chains (FJC) was calculated and used for describing an FJC polymer brush in good solvent conditions. We found good agreement between our results and the numerical calculations of Skvortsov et al.