Grafted rod-coil polymers in poor solvents: turnip and jellyfish surface micelles

Abstract

We consider a system of rod-coil diblock copolymers which are permanently tethered to a flat surface by the end of the coil block. This system is placed in a solvent which is poor for both the rods and the coils. At low grafting densities the polymers form separate globules on the surface. As the grafting density is increased these globules can fuse to form surface micelles. At intermediate grafting densities a ‘turnip’ should form, while at the higher grafting densities the system resembles a series of ‘jellyfish’.