Crowding effect induced phase transition of amphiphilic diblock copolymer in solution

Controlling the localization of nanoparticles in assemblies of amphiphilic diblock copolymers

We performed a dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) approach to study the self-assembly of AB diblock copolymer tethered nanoparticles (P) in dilute solutions. Different morphological aggregates, including spherical micelles, vesicles, disk-like micelles and rod-like micelles, were found by varying the interaction between block copolymers and nanoparticles. Most importantly, the nanoparticles can selectively localize in the different domains within the aggregates. When the repulsive interaction between block copolymers and nanoparticles aPA = aPB = 25, the nanoparticles are evenly distributed within the spherical micelles. While aPA or aPB increases, the nanoparticles gradually aggregate and separate from copolymers and then localize in the central portion of vesicular wall or disk-like and rod-like micelles. The degree of stretching of the tethered copolymer chains gradually grows with the increase of aPA or aPB, while the degree of stretching of solvophobic block B decreases when the morphologies change from spherical to disk-like micelles and further to rod-like micelles. This work illustrates that tuning the miscibility of copolymers and nanoparticles could be used to project the selective localization of nanoparticles within the aggregates self-assembled by diblock copolymer tethered nanoparticles in dilute solutions.

Complex microstructures of ABC triblock copolymer thin films directed by polymer brushes based on self-consistent field theory

The morphology and the phase diagram of ABC triblock copolymer thin film directed by polymer brushes are investigated by the self-consistent field theory in three dimensions. The polymer brushes coated on the substrate can be used as a good soft template to tailor the morphology of the block copolymer thin films compared with those on the hard substrates. The polymer brush is identical with the middle block B. By continuously changing the composition of the block copolymer, the phase diagrams are constructed for three cases with the fixed film thickness and the brush density: identical interaction parameters, frustrated and non-frustrated cases. Some ordered complex morphologies are observed: parallel lamellar phase with hexagonally packed pores at surfaces (LAM3 (ll) -HFs), perpendicular lamellar phase with cylinders at the interface (LAM(⊥)-CI), and perpendicular hexagonally packed cylinders phase with rings at the interface (C2 (⊥)-RI). A desired direction (perpendicular or parallel to the coated surfaces) of lamellar phases or cylindrical phases can be obtained by varying the composition and the interactions between different blocks. The phase diagram of ABC triblock copolymer thin film wetted between the polymer brush-coated surfaces is very useful in designing the directed pattern of ABC triblock copolymer thin film.

Formation and structural characteristics of thermosensitive multiblock copolymer vesicles

The spontaneous vesicle formation of ABABA-type amphiphilic multiblock copolymers bearing thermosensitive hydrophilic A-block in a selective solvent is studied using dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) approach. The formation process of vesicle through nucleation and growth pathway is observed by varying the temperature. The simulation results show that spherical micelle takes shape at high temperature. As temperature decreases, vesicles with small aqueous cavity appear and the cavity expands as well as the membrane thickness decreases with the temperature further decreasing. This finding is in agreement with the experimental observation. Furthermore, by continuously varying the temperature and the length of the hydrophobic block, a phase diagram is constructed, which can indicate the thermodynamically stable region for vesicles. The morphological phase diagram shows that vesicles can form in a larger parameter scope. The relationship between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic block length versus the aqueous cavity size and vesicle size are revealed. Simulation results demonstrate that the copolymers with shorter hydrophobic blocks length or the higher hydrophilicity are more likely to form vesicles with larger aqueous cavity size and vesicle size as well as thinner wall thickness. However, the increase in A-block length results to form vesicles with smaller aqueous cavity size and larger vesicle size.