Ordering mechanism of asymmetric diblock copolymers confined between polymer-grafted surfaces

Abstract

Using self-consistent-field calculation, we study the equilibrium morphology of asymmetric block copolymer melts between two brush-covered surfaces. We discuss systematically the morphologies formed as a function of the grafting density of brushes and show a series of reentrant structural transformations between the lamellar and hexagonal phases. Such a selection of ordered microdomains has been attributed to the interplay among entropy effects of stretched brushes, the preferential interaction of the blocks with the grafted substrate, and the bulk microphase-separated behavior of asymmetric copolymers. Interestingly for the affinitive brush-copolymer interfaces, the bulk hexagonal phase may still be remained due to entropy elasticity of brushes, and the frustration can be relieved by deforming the shape of "soft" polymer-brush surface, in contrast to the hard-wall cases. The result demonstrates a simple way to realize molecular self-assembly for confined copolymer films with well-controlled thickness and interfacial environment.