Effects of the homopolymer molecular weight on a diblock copolymer in a 3D spherical confinement.

BMC Chem

2School of Aerospace, Transportation and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK.

Published: December 2019

The morphologies of a diblock copolymer spherically confined within a homopolymer were investigated by using the static self-consistent field theory method. A homogeneous - diblock copolymer sphere was surrounded by a homopolymer . Upon changing the diblock volume fraction, homopolymer molecular weight and the interaction between the copolymer and its surrounding environment, different morphologies of the sphere were observed. Our calculations confirmed that when the homopolymer molecular weight was high a complete macrophase separation between the copolymer and the homopolymer was obtained. However, when the homopolymer molecular weight was low the homopolymer penetrated into the copolymer microdomains, diluting the diblock copolymer and reduced the interaction between the diblock copolymer segments and hence preventing them from segregating.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6661751PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13065-019-0541-7DOI Listing

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