Self-assembly of linear-dendritic triblock copolymer dependent on variant generations

- We explore the phase behaviors of linear-dendritic triblock copolymer by SCFT.
- Eight phases are found by varying the interaction parameters, volume fractions, etc.
- The effect of linear coil length on morphology from G1 to G5 is investigated.
- We compare the experimental and theoretical results by 3D and 2D simulation.

A systematical calculation is performed to explore the equilibrium phase behaviors of linear-dendritic triblock copolymer AB(2g+1−2)C2g+1 (g is the generation number of the block B, and Gg is short for AB(2g+1−2)C2g+1) from G1 to G5 by using self-consistent field theory. Eight phases are found: two-colored lamellar phase, three-colored lamellar phase, hexagonal phase, core shell hexagonal phase, tetragonal phase, core shell tetragonal phase, two interpenetrating tetragonal phase, lamellar phase with beads except disordered phase, by varying the interaction parameters between different blocks, the volume fractions of the blocks and the generation number. While investigating the effect of linear coil length on morphology, we find the longer linear length (fA = 0.5) for G1, G2 can be beneficial to form the lamellar phase, however, tend to form hexagonal phase easily with generation number increasing from 3 to 5, and short linear length (fA = 0.2) can be better for inducing hexagonal phase from G1 to G5. It becomes more and more difficult to phase separate with generation number increasing from 1 to 5 due to the architectural complexity. However, increasing the interaction parameters is helpful to facilitate phase separation. It is likely to offer new opportunity for designing nanomaterials and applying to template technology by finely controlling the dendron generations, length of the linear chain, interaction parameters of linear-dendritic triblock copolymers.

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