Phase Behavior of Semi-Flexible Polymer Gels

Histogram Reweighting Monte Carlo simulations were performed to obtain the sol-gel phase diagrams for a system of semi-flexible polymer chains in a cubic box with periodic boundary conditions. Our calculations stress the importance of patchiness -- in its absence the systems form standard liquid crystalline phases. In contrast, for strong patch interactions, with decreasing temperature, the chains experience a local ``arrest'' in positions due to the interchain interactions, thus slowing down its dynamics. The physical aggregation of these chains is similar to that of Flory Type -- III gels.