Universality of block copolymer melts

Simulations of five different coarse-grained models of symmetric diblock copolymers are compared to demonstrate a universal (i.e., model-independent) dependence of the free energy and order-disorder transition (ODT) on the invariant degree of polymerization N̄. The actual values of χN at the ODT app...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2014-08, Vol.113 (6), p.068302-068302, Article 068302
Main Authors: Glaser, Jens, Medapuram, Pavani, Beardsley, Thomas M, Matsen, Mark W, Morse, David C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Block copolymers
Copolymers
Free energy
Invariants
Mathematical models
Melts
Phases
Segregations
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Summary:Simulations of five different coarse-grained models of symmetric diblock copolymers are compared to demonstrate a universal (i.e., model-independent) dependence of the free energy and order-disorder transition (ODT) on the invariant degree of polymerization N̄. The actual values of χN at the ODT approach predictions of the Fredrickson-Helfand (FH) theory for N̄ ≳ 10(4) but significantly exceed FH predictions at lower values characteristic of most experiments. The FH theory fails for modest N̄ because the competing phases become strongly segregated near the ODT, violating an underlying assumption of weak segregation.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.068302