Self-consistent field theory for diblock copolymers grafted to a sphere

Abstract

An efficient numerical self-consistent field theory (SCFT) algorithm is developed for treating structured polymers on spherical surfaces. The method solves the diffusion equations of SCFT with a pseudo-spectral approach that combines a spherical-harmonics expansion for the angular coordinates with a modified real-space Crank–Nicolson method for the radial direction. The self-consistent field equations are solved with Anderson-mixing iterations using dynamical parameters and an alignment procedure to prevent angular drift of the solution. A demonstration of the algorithm is provided for thin films of diblock copolymer grafted to the surface of a spherical core, in which the sequence of equilibrium morphologies is predicted as a function of diblock composition. The study reveals an array of interesting behaviors as the block copolymer pattern is forced to adapt to the finite surface area of the sphere.