The behavior of microphase-separated block copolymers has major contributions from the mixed interphase existing between the two homogeneous phases. However, relatively little has been known about the interphase itself and, in particular, its composition profile has never been measured directly. Here, we have used quantitative transmission electron microscopy to acquire the shape of the volume-...

The morphology and miscibility of semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPN) prepared with poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid) [P(S-co-MAA)] of different carboxylic acid contents and poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) have been studied by ESR spin-label method. The ESR spectra of spin-labeled PCL showed one motional component at any specific temperature. It indicated that the spin-labeled mo...

We investigate microphase separation patterns on curved surfaces in three-dimensional space by numerically solving a nonlocal Cahn-Hilliard equation for diblock copolymers. In our model, a curved surface is implicitly represented as the zero level set of a signed distance function. We employ a discrete narrow band grid that neighbors the curved surface. Using the closest point method, we apply ...

We report on the self-assembly behaviour of two homologue series of rod-coil block copolymers in which, the rod, a pi -conjugated polymer, is maintained fixed in size and chemical structure, while the coil is allowed to vary both in molecular weight and chemical nature. This allows maintaining constant the liquid crystalline interactions, expressed by Maier-Saupe interactions, omega , while var...

We present a study of microphase separation induced by competitive hydrogen bonding in A-b-B/C diblock copolymer/homopolymer complexes where the diblock copolymer A-b-B is immiscible and the homopolymer C can interact unequally with both A and B blocks through hydrogen bonding. A model system containing poly(2-vinyl pyridine)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (P2VP-b-PMMA) and poly(4-vinyl phenol...

A theoretical approach coupling dynamic self-consistent field (SCF) theory for inhomogeneous polymeric fluids and variable cell shape (VCS) method for automatically adjusting cell shape and size is developed to investigate ordered microstructures and the ordering mechanisms of block copolymer melts. Using this simulation method, we first re-examined the microphase separation of the simplest AB ...

Carbonate-type macrodiols synthesized by base-catalyzed polycondensation of co-diols and dimethyl carbonate as an environmentally-friendly route were subsequently utilized for the preparation of transparent and self-healable thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) containing a carbonate-type soft segment. Three types of macrodiols, obtained from mono, dual and triple diol-monomers for target molecul...

The dynamics of microphase separation and the orientation of lamellae in diblock copolymers are investigated in terms of a mean-field model. The formation of lamellar structures and their stable states are explored and it is shown that lamellae are stable not only for the period of the structure corresponding to the minimum of the free energy. The range of wavelengths of stable lamellae is dete...