Abstract
Block copolymers self-assemble into a variety of nanostructures that are relevant for science and technology. While the assembly of diblock copolymers is largely understood, predicting the solution assembly of triblock terpolymers remains challenging due to complex interplay of block/block and block/solvent interactions. Here we provide guidelines for the self-assembly of linear ABC triblock terpolymers into a large variety of multicompartment nanostructures with C corona and A/B cores. The ratio of block lengths NC/NA thereby controls micelle geometry to spheres, cylinders, bilayer sheets and vesicles. The insoluble blocks then microphase separate to core A and surface patch B, where NB controls the patch morphology to spherical, cylindrical, bicontinuous and lamellar. The independent control over both parameters allows constructing combinatorial libraries of unprecedented solution nanostructures, including spheres-on-cylinders/sheets/vesicles, cylinders-on-sheets/vesicles, and sheets/vesicles with bicontinuous or lamellar membrane morphology (patchy polymersomes). The derived parameters provide a logical toolbox towards complex self-assemblies for soft matter nanotechnologies.
Highlights
Block copolymers self-assemble into a variety of nanostructures that are relevant for science and technology
Structural diversity is thereby controlled by block lengths and limited to the geometry that ranges from spheres to cylinders to bilayer sheets and vesicles[10,11,12]
We provide guidelines for the self-assembly of linear ABC triblock terpolymers that allow the separate tuning of micelle geometry and patch morphology
Summary
Block copolymers self-assemble into a variety of nanostructures that are relevant for science and technology. The separate control enables us to construct a library of solution nanostructures, where classical micelle polymorphs such as spheres, cylinders, bilayer sheets and vesicles are further subclassified by their patchy morphology.
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