Attraction between Nanoparticles Induced by End-Grafted Homopolymers in Good Solvent

The interactions between nanoparticles coated by end-grafted homopolymers of comparable size are studied using Edwards' self-consistent field (SCF) theory. The equilibrium monomer density distribution is obtained by solving the SCF equations in bispherical coordinates. It is shown that, because of the spherical geometry and redistribution of monomer density, end-grafted homopolymers in good solvent environment can induce attractive interactions. This result suggests that steric stabilization of nanoparticles requires new working principles and that the equilibrium distance between nanoparticles may be tuned by end-grafted polymers.