Related papers: Intradomain phase transitions in flexible block co…
Block copolymer (BCP) melt assembly has been the subject of decades of study, with focus largely on self-organized spatial patterns of periodically-ordered segment density. In this study, we demonstrate that underlying these otherwise…
Block copolymer (BCP) melts play a critical role in the design of thermoplastics, owing in large part to the creation of alternating nano-scale domains of soft and stiff components. Considerable attention has been given to the…
We compare two theoretical approaches to dielectric diblock copolymer melts in an external electric field. The first is a relatively simple analytic expansion in the relative copolymer concentration, and includes the full electrostatic…
The packing geometry of macromolecules in complex mesophases is of key importance to self-organization in synthetic and biological soft materials. While approximate or heuristic models rely on often-untested assumptions about how flexible…
A phenomenological mean-field theory is used to investigate the properties of solvent-diluted di-block copolymers (BCP), in which the two BCP components (A and B) form a variety of phases that are diluted by a solvent (S). Using this…
We present a self-consistent field theory (SCFT) of semiflexible (wormlike) diblock copolymers, each consisting of a rigid and a flexible part. The segments of the polymers are otherwise identical, in particular with regard to their…
We present numerical calculations of lamellar phases of block copolymers at patterned surfaces. We model symmetric di-block copolymer films forming lamellar phases and the effect of geometrical and chemical surface patterning on the…
The formation of various bicontinuous phases from binary blends of linear AB diblock copolymers (DBCPs) is studied using the polymeric self-consistent field theory. The theoretical study predicts that the double-diamond and the "plumber's…
The kinetic paths of structural evolution and formation of block copolymer (BCP) particles are explored using dynamic self-consistent field theory (DSCFT). It is shown that the process-directed self-assembly of BCP immersed in a poor…
Semicrystalline polymers (SCP) represent important class of materials used in many applications from packaging to transportation to electronics to pharmaceuticals. Understanding the structure and dynamics of the crystalline and amorphous…
We present numerical calculations of lamellar phases of di-block copolymers (BCP) confined between two surfaces, where the top surface is flat and the bottom one is corrugated. The corrugated substrate is assumed to have a single $q$-mode…
We investigate the effects of chain flexibility on the self-assembly behavior of symmetric diblock copolymers (BCPs) when they are confined as a thin film between two surfaces. Employing worm-like chain (WLC) self-consistent field theory,…
Self-consistent field theory (SCFT) and strong segregation theory (SST) are used to explore the parameter space governing the self-assembly of cylinder forming block copolymers (BCPs) on a modulated substrate. The stability of in-plane…
A cell dynamics method for domain separation of diblock copolymers (DBCPs) interacting with nanoparticles (NPs) whose diffusion coefficients depend on chain configuration is proposed for self-assembly of DBCP/NP composites. Increasing NP…
We propose a direct self-assembly mechanism towards obtaining defect-free perpendicular lamellar phases of diblock copolymer (BCP) thin films. In our numerical study, a thin BCP film having a flat top surface is casted on a uni-directional…
Diblock copolymers blended with homopolymer may self-assemble into spherical, cylindrical or lamellar aggregates. Transitions between these structures may be driven by varying the homopolymer molecular weight or the molecular weight or…
We elucidate the roles of the isotropic-nematic (I-N) and nematic-smectic A (N-SmA) transitions in magnetic field directed self-assembly of a liquid crystalline block copolymer (BCP), using \textit{in situ} x-ray scattering. Cooling into…
Block copolymers provide a wonderful platform in studying the soft condensed matter systems. Many fascinating ordered structures have been discovered in bulk and confined systems. Among various theories, the self-consistent field theory…
Functional nanoparticles (NPs) have gained significant attention as a promising application in various fields, including sensor, smart coating, drug delivery, and more. Here, we propose a novel mechanism assisted by machine-learning…
We systematically explore the self-assembly of semi-flexible polymers in deformable spherical confinement across a wide regime of chain stiffness, contour lengths and packing fractions by means of coarse-grained molecular dynamics…