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Title: Intradomain Textures in Block Copolymers: Multizone Alignment and Biaxiality

Abstract

Block copolymer (BCP) melt assembly has been studied for decades, focusing largely on self-organized spatial patterns of periodically ordered segment density. Here, we demonstrate that underlying the well-known composition profiles (i.e., ordered lamella, cylinders, spheres, and networks) are generic and heterogeneous patterns of segment orientation that couple strongly to morphology, even in the absence of specific factors that promote intra or interchain segment alignment. We employ both self-consistent field theory and coarse-grained simulation methods to measure polar and nematic order parameters of segments in a freely jointed chain model of diblock melts. We show that BCP morphologies have a multizone texture, with segments predominantly aligned normal and parallel to interdomain interfaces in the respective brush and interfacial regions of the microdomain. Further, morphologies with anisotropically curved interfaces (i.e., cylinders and networks) exhibit biaxial order that is aligned to the principal curvature axes of the interface.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
  2. The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States). William G. Lowrie Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  3. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States). Dept. of Polymer Science and Engineering
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1536518
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1363721
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0014549
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 118; Journal Issue: 24; Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
42 ENGINEERING

Citation Formats

Prasad, Ishan, Seo, Youngmi, Hall, Lisa M., and Grason, Gregory M. Intradomain Textures in Block Copolymers: Multizone Alignment and Biaxiality. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.118.247801.
Prasad, Ishan, Seo, Youngmi, Hall, Lisa M., & Grason, Gregory M. Intradomain Textures in Block Copolymers: Multizone Alignment and Biaxiality. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.118.247801
Prasad, Ishan, Seo, Youngmi, Hall, Lisa M., and Grason, Gregory M. 2017. "Intradomain Textures in Block Copolymers: Multizone Alignment and Biaxiality". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.118.247801. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1536518.
@article{osti_1536518,
title = {Intradomain Textures in Block Copolymers: Multizone Alignment and Biaxiality},
author = {Prasad, Ishan and Seo, Youngmi and Hall, Lisa M. and Grason, Gregory M.},
abstractNote = {Block copolymer (BCP) melt assembly has been studied for decades, focusing largely on self-organized spatial patterns of periodically ordered segment density. Here, we demonstrate that underlying the well-known composition profiles (i.e., ordered lamella, cylinders, spheres, and networks) are generic and heterogeneous patterns of segment orientation that couple strongly to morphology, even in the absence of specific factors that promote intra or interchain segment alignment. We employ both self-consistent field theory and coarse-grained simulation methods to measure polar and nematic order parameters of segments in a freely jointed chain model of diblock melts. We show that BCP morphologies have a multizone texture, with segments predominantly aligned normal and parallel to interdomain interfaces in the respective brush and interfacial regions of the microdomain. Further, morphologies with anisotropically curved interfaces (i.e., cylinders and networks) exhibit biaxial order that is aligned to the principal curvature axes of the interface.},
doi = {10.1103/physrevlett.118.247801},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1536518}, journal = {Physical Review Letters},
issn = {0031-9007},
number = 24,
volume = 118,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jun 12 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Mon Jun 12 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

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Cited by: 15 works
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Intradomain phase transitions in flexible block copolymers with self-aligning segments
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Theoretical prediction of an isotropic to nematic phase transition in bottlebrush homopolymer melts
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Stable Frank–Kasper phases of self-assembled, soft matter spheres
journal, September 2018


Generalizing the effects of chirality on block copolymer assembly
journal, February 2019


Stable Frank-Kasper phases of self-assembled, soft matter spheres
text, January 2018


Stable Frank–Kasper phases of self-assembled, soft matter spheres
journal, September 2018