Copolymer dendrimers with attached terminal linear fragments that differ from inner segments in physical or chemical properties are considered by using the Scheutjens−Fleer self-consistent field approach. We find that the incompatibility between the terminal and the inner segments is the main factor favoring formation of a "hollow" interior in the dendrimer [1]. It is shown that the solvent quality with respect to terminal groups plays an important additional role.
Influence of structural parameters of the dendrimer, such as the terminal segment length, lend, and the generation, G, is also studied. We show that increasing terminal segment length enhances the segregation effect at the onset of the conformational rearrangement. At the same time, the size of the hollow in the dendrimer does not change with variation in lend. On the other hand, if the number of generations G increases, both the extent of the segregation effect, corresponding to the conformational change, and the hollow size grows.
Our results