Benchmarking a self-consistent field theory for small amphiphilic molecules

Abstract

A minimalist self-consistent field theory for small amphiphilic molecules is presented. The equations for this model are less involved than those for block copolymers and are easily implemented computationally. A new convergence technique based on a variant of Anderson mixing is also presented which allows the equations to be solved more rapidly than block copolymer self-consistent field theory. The computational speed up and simplicity of equations result from a lack of configurational degrees of freedom in the amphiphilic molecular model. The omission of polymeric flexibility leads to qualitatively different predictions compared to known diblock copolymer behaviour.