中国物理B ›› 2016, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (11): 118201-118201.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/25/11/118201

• INTERDISCIPLINARY PHYSICS AND RELATED AREAS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY • 上一篇    下一篇

Block copolymer morphologies confined by square-shaped particle: Hard and soft confinement

Qiyi Zhang(张启义), Wenyan Yang(杨文艳), Kaiyan Hu(胡凯燕)   

  1. Department of Mathematics and Physics, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, China
  • 收稿日期:2016-05-11 修回日期:2016-07-06 出版日期:2016-11-05 发布日期:2016-11-05
  • 通讯作者: Qiyi Zhang E-mail:qyzhang520@163.com
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20804060) and the Research Foundation of Chongqing University of Science and Technology, China (Grant No. CK2013B16).

Block copolymer morphologies confined by square-shaped particle: Hard and soft confinement

Qiyi Zhang(张启义), Wenyan Yang(杨文艳), Kaiyan Hu(胡凯燕)   

  1. Department of Mathematics and Physics, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, China
  • Received:2016-05-11 Revised:2016-07-06 Online:2016-11-05 Published:2016-11-05
  • Contact: Qiyi Zhang E-mail:qyzhang520@163.com
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20804060) and the Research Foundation of Chongqing University of Science and Technology, China (Grant No. CK2013B16).

摘要: The self-assembly of diblock copolymers confined around one square-shaped particle is studied systematically within two-dimensional self-consistent field theory (SCFT). In this model, we assume that the thin block copolymer film is confined in the vicinity of a square-shaped particle by a homopolymer melt, which is equivalent to the poor solvents. Multiple sequences of square-shaped particle-induced copolymer aggregates with different shapes and self-assembled internal morphologies are predicted as functions of the particle size, the structural portion of the copolymer, and the volume fraction of the copolymer. A rich variety of aggregates are found with complex internal self-assembled morphologies including complex structures of the vesicle, with one or several inverted micelle surrounded by the outer monolayer with the particle confined in the core. These results demonstrate that the assemblies of diblock copolymers formed around the square-shaped particle in poor solvents are of immediate interest to the assembly of copolymer and the morphology of biomembrane in the confined environment, as well as to the transitions of vesicles to micelles.

关键词: copolymer, square-shaped particle, soft confinement, field theory

Abstract: The self-assembly of diblock copolymers confined around one square-shaped particle is studied systematically within two-dimensional self-consistent field theory (SCFT). In this model, we assume that the thin block copolymer film is confined in the vicinity of a square-shaped particle by a homopolymer melt, which is equivalent to the poor solvents. Multiple sequences of square-shaped particle-induced copolymer aggregates with different shapes and self-assembled internal morphologies are predicted as functions of the particle size, the structural portion of the copolymer, and the volume fraction of the copolymer. A rich variety of aggregates are found with complex internal self-assembled morphologies including complex structures of the vesicle, with one or several inverted micelle surrounded by the outer monolayer with the particle confined in the core. These results demonstrate that the assemblies of diblock copolymers formed around the square-shaped particle in poor solvents are of immediate interest to the assembly of copolymer and the morphology of biomembrane in the confined environment, as well as to the transitions of vesicles to micelles.

Key words: copolymer, square-shaped particle, soft confinement, field theory

中图分类号:  (Nanoparticles in polymers)

  • 82.35.Np
82.35.Jk (Copolymers, phase transitions, structure) 89.75.Fb (Structures and organization in complex systems)