Percolation in polymer-solvent systems: A Monte Carlo study

In this study we investigated the percolation in the system containing long flexible polymer chains. The system also contained explicit solvent molecules. The polymer chains were represented by linear sequences of lattice points restricted to a two-dimensional triangular lattice. The Monte Carlo simulations were performed applying the cooperative motion algorithm. The percolation thresholds and the critical exponents of chains and solvent molecules were determined. The influence of the chain length on the percolation was discussed. It was shown that the percolation threshold decreased strongly with the chain length, which is closely connected to changes in chains' structure with the decreasing polymer concentration. The critical exponent beta for all chains under consideration and for solvent molecules was found almost constant and close to the theoretical value 5/36.