  We study the conformational behavior of polarizable polymer chain under an
external homogeneous electric field within the Flory type self-consistent field
theory. We consider the influence of electric field on the polymer coil as well
as on the polymer globule. We show that when the polymer chain conformation is
a coil, application of external electric field leads to its additional
swelling. However, when the polymer conformation is a globule, a sufficiently
strong field can induce a globule-coil transition. We show that such
$"$field-induced$"$ globule-coil transition at the sufficiently small monomer
polarizabilities goes quite smoothly. On the contrary, when the monomer
polarizability exceeds a certain threshold value, the globule-coil transition
occurs as a dramatic expansion in the regime of first-order phase transition.
The developed theoretical model can be applied to predicting polymer globule
density change under external electric field in order to provide more efficient
processes of polymer functionalization, such as sorption, dyeing, chemical
modification, etc.
