Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: We analyze the energetics of spherelike micellar phases in diblock copolymers in terms of well-studied, geometric quantities for their lattices. We argue that the A15 lattice with Pm3;n symmetry should be favored as the blocks become more symmetric and corroborate this through a self-consistent field theory. Because phases with columnar or bicontinuous topologies intervene, the A15 phase, though metastable, is not an equilibrium phase of symmetric diblocks. We investigate the phase diagram of branched diblocks and find that the A15 phase is stable.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2002806533