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Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Modulating Shape of Polyester Based Polymersomes using Osmotic Pressure
Published on: April 21, 2021
Virial coefficients and osmotic pressure in polymer solutions in good-solvent conditions
Sergio Caracciolo1, Bortolo Matteo Mognetti, Andrea Pelissetto
1Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, I-20133 Milano, Italy. sergio.caracciolo@mi.infn.it
Abstract:
We determine the second, third, and fourth virial coefficients appearing in the density expansion of the osmotic pressure Pi of a monodisperse polymer solution in good-solvent conditions. Using the expected large-concentration behavior, we extrapolate the low-density expansion outside the dilute regime, obtaining the osmotic pressure for any concentration in the semidilute region. Comparison with field-theoretical predictions and experimental data shows that the obtained expression is quite accurate. The error is approximately 1%-2% below the overlap concentration and rises at most to 5%-10% in the limit of very large polymer concentrations.
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