Abstract:

An experimental design on conformation statistics and analysis of polymer chains by means of molecular simulation is introduced in this paper. Polyethylene, which is commonly used and has a simple structure, was selected as the research object, and the "Materials Studio" software was used to construct the polyethylene chain, simulate its thermal relaxation, and verify the scaling theory of conformation size in combination with statistical methods. In this experiment, the latest molecular simulation software was used to reproduce the microscopic images of polymer chains at the microscopic level, which is helpful for students to achieve visual understanding of the concept of "random coils" and deepen their understanding of polymers. In addition, conditions such as vacuum and high temperature were chosen, which considerably accelerate the simulation process and help students quickly obtain reliable experimental results on personal computers and meet the time requirements of the experimental courses.

Key words: Polymer experiment, Polymer chain, Conformation statistics, Molecular simulation