The phase behavior of comblike block copolymer Am+1Bm/homopolymer A mixtures

Abstract

The phase behaviors of comblike block copolymer A(m+1)B(m)/homopolymer A mixtures are studied by using the random phase approximation method and real-space self-consistent field theory. From the spinodals of macrophase separation and microphase separation, we can find that the number of graft and the length of the homopolymer A have great effects on the phase behavior of the blend. For a given composition of comblike block copolymer, increasing the number of graft does not change the macrophase separation spinodal curve but decreases the microphase separation region. The addition of a small quantity of long-chain homopolymer A increases the microphase separation of comblike block copolymer/homopolymer A mixture. However, the addition of short-chain homopolymer A will decrease the phase separation region of comblike block copolymer/homopolymer A mixture. It is also found that the microstructure formed by diblock copolymer is easier to be swelled by homopolymer than that formed by comblike block copolymer. This can be attributed to the architecture difference between the comblike block copolymer and linear block copolymer.