A strategy to explore stable and metastable ordered phases of block copolymers
Block copolymers with their rich phase behavior and ordering transitions have become a paradigm for the study of structured soft materials. A major challenge in the study of the phase behavior of block copolymers is to obtain different stable and metastable phases of the system. A strategy to discov...
Saved in:
| Published in: | The journal of physical chemistry. B Vol. 117; no. 17; p. 5296 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
United States
02.05.2013
|
| ISSN: | 1520-5207, 1520-5207 |
| Online Access: | Get more information |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Block copolymers with their rich phase behavior and ordering transitions have become a paradigm for the study of structured soft materials. A major challenge in the study of the phase behavior of block copolymers is to obtain different stable and metastable phases of the system. A strategy to discover complex ordered phases of block copolymers within the self-consistent field theory framework is developed by a combination of fast algorithms and novel initialization procedures. This strategy allows the generation of a large number of candidate structures, which can then be used to construct phase diagrams. Application of the strategy is illustrated using ABC star triblock copolymers as an example. A large number of candidate structures, including many three-dimensionally ordered phases, of the system are obtained and categorized. A phase diagram is constructed for symmetrically interacting ABC star triblock copolymers. |
|---|---|
| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 1520-5207 1520-5207 |
| DOI: | 10.1021/jp309862b |