RESUMO
We present a dissipative particle dynamics simulation study on nanostructure formation of symmetric and asymmetric diblock copolymers confined between planar surfaces. We consider symmetric and slightly asymmetric diblock copolymers that form lamellar nanostructures in the bulk, and highly asymmetric diblock copolymers that form cylindrical nanostructures in the bulk. The formation of the diblock copolymer nanostructures confined between the planar surfaces is investigated and characterized by varying the separation width and the strength of the interaction between the surfaces and the diblock copolymers. Both the slit width and the surface interaction strongly influence the phase diagram, especially for the asymmetric systems. For the symmetric and slightly asymmetric diblock copolymer systems, the confinement primarily affects the orientation of the lamellar domains and only marginally influences the domain morphologies. These systems form parallel lamellar phases with different number of lamellae, and perpendicular and mixed lamellar phases. In a narrow portion of the phase diagram, these systems exhibit a parallel perforated lamellar phase, where further insight into the appearance of this phase is provided through free-energy calculations. The confined highly asymmetric diblock copolymer system shows, in addition to nanostructures with parallel and perpendicular cylinders, noncylindrical structures such as parallel lamellae and parallel perforated lamellae. The formation of the various confined nanostructures is further analyzed by calculating structural characteristics such as the mean square end-to-end distance of the diblock copolymers and the nematic order parameter.
RESUMO
We present a dissipative particle dynamics simulation study on the formation of nanostructures of symmetric diblock copolymers confined between planar surfaces with and without nanopatterns. The nanopatterned surface is mimicked by alternating portions of the surface that interact differently with the diblock copolymers. The formation of the diblock-copolymer nanostructures confined between the planar surfaces is investigated and characterized by varying the separation width and the strength of the interaction between the surfaces and the diblock copolymers. For surfaces with nanopatterns, we also vary both the mutual area and location of the nanopatterns, where we consider nanopatterns on the opposing surfaces that are vertically (a) aligned, (b) staggered, and (c) partially staggered. In the case of planar slits without nanopatterns, we observe the formation of perpendicular and parallel lamellar phases with different numbers of lamellae. In addition, the symmetric diblock copolymers self-assemble into adsorbed layer and adsorbed layer-parallel lamellar phases and a mixed lamellar phase when the opposing surfaces of the planar slits are modeled by different types of wall beads. In the case of nanopatterned planar slits, we observe novel nanostructures and attempt to rationalize the diblock copolymer self-assembly on the basis of the behavior that we observed in the planar slits without nanopatterns. In particular, we investigate the applicability of predicting the structures formed in the nanopatterned slits by a superposition of the observed structures in slits without nanopatterns.
