Role of Chain Length in the Formation of Frank-Kasper Phases in Diblock Copolymers

Ronald M. Lewis, Akash Arora, Haley K. Beech, Bongjoon Lee, Aaron P. Lindsay, Timothy P Lodge, Kevin Dorfman, Frank S Bates

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Abstract

The phase behavior of poly(styrene)-b-poly(1,4-butadiene) diblock copolymers with a polymer block invariant degree of polymerization Nb≈800 shows no evidence of Frank-Kasper phases, in contrast to low molar mass diblock copolymers (Nb<100) with the same conformational asymmetry. A universal self-concentration crossover parameter Nx≈400 is identified, directly related to the crossover to entanglement dynamics in polymer melts. Mean-field behavior is recovered when Nb>Nx, while complex low symmetry phase formation is attributed to fluctuations and space-filling constraints, which dominate when Nb<Nx.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number208002
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume121
Issue number20
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 14 2018

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