Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.115, No.9, 4376-4386, 2001
Thermodynamic and structural properties of Yukawa hard chains
The thermodynamic and structural properties of Yukawa hard chains are considered in this work. We specifically examined the influence of the Yukawa potential range parameter lambda on the thermodynamic properties, inter- and intrachain correlation functions of the chain fluid. The compressibility factor or pressure of Yukawa chain fluids was calculated via a first-order perturbation theory using hard-sphere chain fluid as a reference. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to calculate the thermodynamic properties and inter- and intrachain correlation functions of the fluid for lambda =1.8 and 3.0. Simulation results for the compressibility were compared with calculations from the first-order perturbation theory and the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory-Variable Range (SAFT-VR) model. We found that both theories represent the simulated data very well. In particular, the SAFT-VR equation provides an excellent estimate of the properties of Yukawa hard chains over wide ranges of temperature and density. Simulated data for interchain and intrachain correlation functions reveal that the local structure of the Yukawa hard chains is strongly effected by the range parameter of the potential.