Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1484415 | Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids | 2008 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
We present a lattice Monte Carlo study of a series of block copolymer chains in selective solvents of varying quality, first using a diblock chain of the length of N=32 with a 16-16 microarchitecture, and then - two multiblock chains of N=64 and N=128, with (8-8)4 and (16-16)4 microarchitectures, respectively. We report a variety of thermodynamic and structural properties, such as energy, specific heat, end-to-end distance and radius of gyration both for the whole chain and for individual blocks. The simulations have demonstrated that a multiblock copolymer in a selective solvent exhibits protein-like behavior undergoing a two-step transition, first from a swollen state to a secondary 'pearl-necklace' state and then to a tertiary super-globular state as the solvent quality decreases, i.e. upon cooling. We have found that mean-squared end-to-end distances of multiblock chains decrease as the temperature is reduced, as expected.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Materials Science
Ceramics and Composites
Authors
S. WoÅoszczuk, M. Banaszak, P. KnychaÅa, K. Lewandowski, M. Radosz,