The depletion potential between two colloid particles immersed in a hydrogen bonding fluid has been investigated by density functional theory. The study is motivated by the wide applications of hydrogen bonding fluids in the field of colloid science, and the effects of relevant factors on the depletion potential and depletion force between colloid particles have been studied. These factors include the size ratio of the colloid particle to the fluid molecule, the bulk density of the fluid, the functionality (the number of proton acceptors a and proton donors d) and hydrogen bonding strength as well as the colloid-fluid interaction energy. By comparing the depletion potential calculated under various conditions, it is shown that the effects of these factors on the depletion potential are very significant, and in particular in regulating the depletion force and its range.
The thermodynamic properties of a binary self-condensing vinyl polymerization system consisting of monomers and inimers are investigated by the principle of statistical mechanics.In detail,in terms of two types of canonical partition functions constructed from different viewpoints,the equilibrium free energy,the law of mass action and the size distribution of hyperbranched polymers are obtained.As an application,the specific heat,equation of state and isothermal compressibility concerning the polymerization are given as well.To study the dimension of hyperbranched polymers in the system,a recursion formula satisfied by the(k+1)-th and k-th mean square radius of gyration is derived,and then the first,second and third radius of gyration under different solvent conditions are presented.The influences of the fraction of inimers,the conversion of vinyl groups and the solvent effect on the average dimension of hyperbranched polymers are discussed.