Three-dimensional particle-based simulations of fluctuation-stabilized copolymer mesophases
Abstract
Binary blends of A-b-(B-b-A')n miktoarm star block copolymers and A homopolymers have been experimentally shown to self-assemble into an aperiodic ``bricks-and-mortar'' mesophase, which combines a continuous ``mortar'' phase of the B-type polymer with a discrete ``bricks'' phase of the A-type polymer. Such materials have been proposed for use as thermoplastic elastomers, combining high mechanical strength and high elastic recovery. It has been demonstrated theoretically that the mesophase is not predicted to exist in the absence of thermal fluctuations, suggesting it is a unique fluctuation-stabilized morphology. A critical feature of this mesophase is that the A-type domains possess a wide range of sizes, from tens to hundreds of nanometers, representing a challenge to simulation-based approaches. Consequently, prior theoretical work has been limited to simulation in two-dimensions. In this work, we use three-dimensional particle-based simulations, which include fluctuations, to extend understanding of the phase diagram of these blends. Our simulations verify that the bricks-and-mortar mesophase emerges in the presence of three-dimensional thermal fluctuations and more accurately capture experimental systems' phase behavior.
- Publication:
-
APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019APS..MARB58013B