Chain length dependence of folding transition in a semiflexible homo-polymer chain: Appearance of a core–shell structure

The folding transition of single, long semiflexible polymers was studied with special emphasis on the chain length effect using Monte Carlo simulations. While a relatively short chain (10–25 Kuhn segments) undergoes a large discrete transition between swollen coil and compact toroid conformations, a long chain (50 Kuhn segments) exhibits an intrachain segregated state between the disordered coil and ordered toroid.