Issue 47, 2018

Effect of solvophobicity on the phase behavior of linear ABC triblock copolymers in selective solvents: a Monte Carlo study

Abstract

The microphase separation behavior of linear ABC triblock copolymers in A-selective solvents are studied using Monte Carlo simulation. The ABC triblock copolymer used in this study has a short solvophilic block A and two long solvophobic blocks B and C. The effects of the solvophobicity difference and the incompatibility between solvophobic blocks B and C on the micelle morphologies formed by linear ABC triblock copolymers are investigated, and phase diagrams as a function of the solvophobicity of blocks B and C are given at different repulsions between blocks B and C, respectively. A series of multicompartment micelles with distinct solvophobic parts is obtained, such as pupa-like multi-layered micelles, hamburger-like micelles and bumpy disks. Remarkably, when the solvophobicity of blocks B is much stronger than that of blocks C, a novel reverse core–shell–corona micelle with solvophilic blocks A located in the center of the micelle is obtained. Moreover, the results indicate that the competition between the effects of the incompatibility and solvophobicity difference between blocks B and C determines the microphase separation structures in the multicompartment micelles. These simulation results elucidate the mechanism of the formation of ABC triblock copolymer nanostructures and provide theoretical guidance for experimental studies.

Graphical abstract: Effect of solvophobicity on the phase behavior of linear ABC triblock copolymers in selective solvents: a Monte Carlo study

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Jun 2018
Accepted
10 Jul 2018
First published
30 Jul 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2018,8, 26959-26967

Effect of solvophobicity on the phase behavior of linear ABC triblock copolymers in selective solvents: a Monte Carlo study

Z. Gao, J. Cui, Y. Han and W. Jiang, RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 26959 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA05283B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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