MC simulation of a physical gel

The sol–gel transition of a solution of linear polymer chains interacting at low temperatures through the formation of triple helices is studied by means of a fully developed dynamic MC algorithm that incorporates excluded volume conditions. gorithm includes local movements, to induce dynamic behaviour of the polymer system, and a small set of parameters (helix seeds fraction, polymer volume fraction, gelation strength parameter) that control the final structure of the network. The sol–gel transition is a temperature driven process that we accomplish in our simulation by changing the polymer attractive interaction energy. s obtained for this model are in good agreement with experimental data of sol–gel transitions in gelatine gels. Therefore, the model can be further used to gain local and global information of the sol–gel process, which can be used as a guide for interpreting experimental results.