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Guo YQ, Pan JX, Sun MN, Zhang JJ. Phase transition of a symmetric diblock copolymer induced by nanorods with different surface chemistry. J Chem Phys 2017; 146:024902. [PMID: 28088151 DOI: 10.1063/1.4973560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
We investigate the phase transition of a symmetric diblock copolymer induced by nanorods with different surface chemistry. The results demonstrate that the system occurs the phase transition from a disordered structure to ordered parallel lamellae and then to the tilted layered structure as the number of rods increases. The dynamic evolution of the domain size and the order parameter of the microstructure are also examined. Furthermore, the influence of rod property, rod-phase interaction, rod-rod interaction, rod length, and polymerization degree on the behavior of the polymer system is also investigated systematically. Moreover, longer amphiphilic nanorods tend to make the polymer system form the hexagonal structure. It transforms into a perpendicular lamellar structure as the polymerization degree increases. Our simulations provide an efficient method for determining how to obtain the ordered structure on the nanometer scales and design the functional materials with optical, electronic, and magnetic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Qi Guo
- School of Physics and Information Engineering, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen 041004, China
| | - Jun-Xing Pan
- School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen 041004, China
| | - Min-Na Sun
- School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen 041004, China
| | - Jin-Jun Zhang
- School of Physics and Information Engineering, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen 041004, China
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Jung H, Woo S, Choe Y, Ryu DY, Huh J, Bang J. Single Step Process for Self-Assembled Block Copolymer Patterns via in Situ Annealing during Spin-Casting. ACS Macro Lett 2015; 4:656-660. [PMID: 35596409 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.5b00214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We demonstrated a simple and time-efficient processing method for facilitating a microphase separation of block copolymers (BCPs) based on a single step of spin-casting with low volatile solvent and in situ annealing. Well-ordered lamellar patterns of poly(styrene-b-methyl methacrylate) BCP films having wide range of molecular weights (51-235 kg/mol) were fabricated by a single 3 min process of spin-casting, even without the conventional pretreatment of substrate neutralization. The formation of this well-ordered lamellar structure is attributed to a synergetic effect between slow solvent evaporation and thermal energy that may provide an efficient cooling profile for the BCP film during the spin-casting process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyunjung Jung
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea
| | - Sanghoon Woo
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea
| | - Youngson Choe
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pusan National University, Kumjeong-ku, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea
| | - Du Yeol Ryu
- Department of Chemical and Biolomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea
| | - June Huh
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea
| | - Joona Bang
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea
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Santos A, Singh C, Glotzer SC. Coarse-grained models of tethers for fast self-assembly simulations. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2010; 81:011113. [PMID: 20365329 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.81.011113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2009] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Long molecular ligands or "tethers" play an important role in the self-assembly of many nanoscale systems. These tethers, whose only interaction may be a hard-core repulsion, contribute significantly to the free energy of the system because of their large conformational entropy. Here, we investigate how simple approximate models can be developed and used to quickly determine the configurations into which tethers will self assemble in nanoscale systems. We derive criteria that determine when these models are expected to be accurate. Finally, we propose a generalized two-body approximation that can be used as a toy model for the self-assembly of tethers in systems of arbitrary geometry and apply this to the self-assembly of self-assembled monolayers on a planar surface. We compare our results to those in the literature obtained via atomistic and dissipative particle dynamics simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron Santos
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2136, USA
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Yin Y, Sun P, Jiang R, Li B, Chen T, Jin Q, Ding D, Shi AC. Simulated annealing study of asymmetric diblock copolymer thin films. J Chem Phys 2006; 124:184708. [PMID: 16709132 DOI: 10.1063/1.2194537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We report a simulated annealing study of the morphology of asymmetric diblock copolymer thin films confined between two homogeneous and identical surfaces. We have focused on copolymers that form a gyroidal morphology in the bulk. The morphological dependence of the confined films on the film thickness and the surface-polymer interaction has been systematically investigated. From the simulations it is found that much richer morphologies can form for the gyroid-forming asymmetric diblock copolymer thin films, in contrast to the lamella-forming symmetric and cylinder-forming asymmetric diblock copolymer films. Multiple morphological transitions induced by changing the film thickness and polymer-surface interactions are observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhua Yin
- College of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, People's Republic of China
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Yu B, Li B, Sun P, Chen T, Jin Q, Ding D, Shi AC. Cylinder-gyroid-lamella transitions in diblock copolymer solutions: A simulated annealing study. J Chem Phys 2005; 123:234902. [PMID: 16392944 DOI: 10.1063/1.2137711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The morphological transition of an asymmetric diblock copolymer [A3-b-B9] in A-selective solvents is investigated using a simulated annealing technique. The study was carried out at high copolymer concentrations. Phase-transitions among hexagonally packed cylinders (C), gyroid (G), and lamellae (L) are observed. The phase transition sequence, C-->G-->L, was obtained with decreasing copolymer concentration and/or increasing B-solvent interaction. The predicted phase-transition sequence is consistent with experiments of diblock copolymers with similar volume fractions in selective solvents of different selectivity. The morphological transitions were further analyzed in terms of the average contact numbers for A or B monomers with other molecules and the total surface area of the core or matrix in each structure. It is found that these quantities correlate with the structures, providing an understanding of the phase-transition mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bin Yu
- College of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
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Sun P, Yin Y, Li B, Chen T, Jin Q, Ding D, Shi AC. Simulated annealing study of gyroid formation in diblock copolymer solutions. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2005; 72:061408. [PMID: 16485948 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.72.061408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2005] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Conditions for the formation of gyroid structures in diblock copolymer solutions are examined using a simulated annealing technique. The simulations were performed on diblock copolymer systems of A(NA)-b-B(NB) (with NA<NB) in solvents that are selective to the A blocks. It is shown that gyroid structures form in a narrow range of block copolymer concentrations between the hexagonally packed cylindrical and the lamellar phases and at an almost constant B-monomer concentration. It is also shown that the gyroid structure is especially sensitive to the B-solvent interaction (epsilonBS) and the length of the B block (NB). Phase diagrams for the diblock copolymer solutions are constructed. These predicted results are consistent with previous experimental observations. The three-dimensional isosurface contour plots of the simulated gyroid structure shows two interpenetrating strut networks. The projection along the [111] direction of the simulated gyroid structure and the spherically averaged structure factor are in good agreement with previous experimental results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pingchuan Sun
- Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
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Sun P, Yin Y, Li B, Chen T, Jin Q, Ding D, Shi AC. Simulated annealing study of morphological transitions of diblock copolymers in solution. J Chem Phys 2005; 122:204905. [PMID: 15945775 DOI: 10.1063/1.1924452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The simulated annealing method was applied to study the self-assembling process of diblock copolymers in selective solvents for one block. The simulation results illustrated that the morphologies of the copolymer aggregates strongly depend on the interactions between the core-forming blocks and the solvents and on the length of the corona-forming blocks. Multiple morphological transitions were observed in one system. The transition sequence (disordered state-spherical micelles-short rodlike micelles-long rodlike micelles-onionlike aggregates) was observed for copolymers with increasing core-solvent interaction. Similar transitions were observed with the decrease of the length of the corona-forming blocks. The mechanisms of these transitions are investigated. The simulation results are compared with experiments and other simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pingchuan Sun
- Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials for Adsorption and Separation, College of Chemistry and Department of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
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Chen K, Ma YQ. Ordering stripe structures of nanoscale rods in diblock copolymer scaffolds. J Chem Phys 2002. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1476313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Ishikawa A, Ogawa T. Dynamics of spinodal decomposition in finite-lifetime systems: Nonlinear statistical theory based on a coarse-grained lattice-gas model. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2002; 65:026131. [PMID: 11863611 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.65.026131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2001] [Revised: 07/18/2001] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
We study theoretically dynamics of the spinodal decomposition in finite-lifetime systems to clarify effects of the interparticle interactions beyond the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson phenomenology. Our theory is based on the coarse-grained Hamiltonian derived from the interacting lattice-gas model with a finite lifetime. The information of a system is reduced to closed-form coupled integrodifferential equations for the single-point distribution function and the dynamical structure factor. These equations involve explicitly the interparticle interactions. The finite lifetime prevents the phase separation and the order formation in the cw creation case; domains cannot grow to be larger than an asymptotic characteristic size [k(max)(t --> infinity)](-1). Power-law dependence of k(max)(t --> infinity) on the interparticle interaction and the particle lifetime is also found numerically. The finite lifetime prevents the phase separation, i.e., the lower critical wave number k((1))(c) appears and domains of size larger than [k((1))(c)](-1) cannot grow.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akira Ishikawa
- Department of Physics, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan.
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Yokojima Y, Shiwa Y. Ordering process in quenched block copolymers at low temperatures. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL PHYSICS, PLASMAS, FLUIDS, AND RELATED INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS 2000; 62:6838-6845. [PMID: 11102037 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.62.6838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2000] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
We have studied domain growth of symmetric diblock copolymers undergoing microphase separation at low temperatures. We introduce a phenomenological nonlinear diffusion model with order-parameter-dependent mobility. Performing two-dimensional simulations, we find that the time-dependent scattering function exhibits dynamical scaling with a logarithmic growth law in the strong segregation limit where surface diffusion is the relevant mechanism for coarsening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Yokojima
- Division of Materials Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
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Shiwa Y, Taneike T, Yokojima Y. Scaling Behavior of Block Copolymers in Spontaneous Growth of Lamellar Domains. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 1996; 77:4378-4381. [PMID: 10062523 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.77.4378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
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Glotzer SC, Coniglio A. Self-consistent solution of phase separation with competing interactions. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL PHYSICS, PLASMAS, FLUIDS, AND RELATED INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS 1994; 50:4241-4244. [PMID: 9962483 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.50.4241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
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Kawakatsu T. Computer simulation of self-assembling processes of a binary mixture containing a block copolymer. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL PHYSICS, PLASMAS, FLUIDS, AND RELATED INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS 1994; 50:2856-2862. [PMID: 9962326 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.50.2856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
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Glotzer SC, Stauffer D, Jan N. Monte Carlo simulations of phase separation in chemically reactive binary mixtures. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 1994; 72:4109-4112. [PMID: 10056384 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.72.4109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
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Yeung C, Desai RC. Pattern formation in laser-induced melting. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL PHYSICS, PLASMAS, FLUIDS, AND RELATED INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS 1994; 49:2096-2114. [PMID: 9961452 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.49.2096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
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