Abstract
The dynamic mean-field density functional method is used to describe copolymer phase separation in a slit. The confined system consists of a mixture of 55% flexible triblock poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)−poly(propylene oxide) (PPO)−poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) copolymer (trade name Pluronics) and 45% solvent. The triblock under consideration, Pluronics L64 (EO)13(PO)30(EO)13, is modeled as a Gaussian chain. In bulk the copolymer forms a hexagonally packed array of PO-rich cylinders, embedded in a EO-rich matrix. This is the first three-dimensional calculation and study of a specific triblock in a confined regime. In particular, by choosing the dynamic density functional (DDFT) method for this theoretical studies, the morphology is a result of a dynamic pathway during the phase separation. As such, this study goes beyond an investigation of the stability of predefined morphologies. It is shown that, for the special case of wall−water energetic interactions equal to EO−wall interactions, the phase diagram for th...
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