The lattice cluster theory (LCT) for the thermodynamics of polymer systemshas recently been reformulated to treat strongly interacting self-assemblingpolymers composed of fully flexible linear telechelic chains [J. Dudowicz andK. F. Freed, J. Chem. Phys. \textbf{136}, 064902 (2012)]. Here, we furtherextend the LCT for linear telechelic polymer melts to include a description ofchain semiflexibility, which is treated by introducing a bending energy penaltywhenever a pair of consecutive bonds from a single chain lies along orthogonaldirections. An analytical expression for the Helmholtz free energy is derivedfor the model of semiflexible linear telechelic polymer melts. The extensionprovides a theoretical tool for investigating the influence of chain stiffnesson the thermodynamics of self-assembling telechelic polymers, and for furtherexploring the influence of self-assembly on glass formation in such systems.
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