Stability of a block-copolymer lamella in a strong electric field.

Electric-field-induced alignment of block copolymer/nanoparticle blends.

External electric fields readily align birefringent block-copolymer mesophases. In this study the effect of gold nanoparticles on the electric-field-induced alignment of a lamellae-forming polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) copolymer is assessed. Nanoparticles are homogeneously dispersed in the styrenic phase and promote the quantitative alignment of lamellar domains by substantially lower...

Ordering kinetics of lamella-forming block copolymers under the guidance of various external fields studied by dynamic self-consistent field theory.

Self-consistent field theory with a dynamic extension is exploited to investigate the kinetics of the lamellar formation of symmetric block copolymers under the direction of external fields. In particular, three types of directed self-assembly methods - a permanent field for chemo-epitaxy, a dynamic field for zone annealing and an integrated permanent/dynamic field - are examined. For the chemo...

Undulation instability in block-copolymer lamellae subjected to a perpendicular electric field

We examine the stability of lamellar stacks in the presence of an electric field, E0, applied normal to the lamellae. Calculations are performed with self-consistent field theory (SCFT) supplemented by an exact treatment of the electrostatic energy for linear dielectric materials. The calculations identify a critical electric field, E 0, beyond which the lamellar stack becomes unstable with res...

Orientation of self-assembled block copolymer cylinders perpendicular to electric field in mesoscale film

Amphiphilic Block Copolymer Nano-micelles: Effect of Length Ratio of the Hydrophilic Block

Block copolymer nano-micelles are especially important in cancer treatment because of their fine dimensions. In this article, three systems of amphiphilic copolymers with similar lengths and different ratios of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic chains are studied using implicit-solvent coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. The factor fphil is defined as the ratio of the number...