On the role of hydrodynamic interactions in block copolymer microphase separation

A melt of linear diblock copolymers (AnBm) can form a diverse range of microphase separated structures. The detailed morphology of the microstructure depends on the length of the polymer blocks An and Bm and their mutual solubility. In this paper, the role of hydrodynamic forces in microphase formation is studied. The microphase separation of block copolymer melts is simulated using two continuum methods: dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) and Brownian dynamics (BD). Although both methods produce the correct equilibrium distribution of polymer chains, the BD simulation does not include hydrodynamic interactions, whereas the DPD method correctly simulates the (compressible) Navier Stokes behavior of the melt. To quantify the mesophase structure, we introduce a new order parameter that goes beyond the usual local segregation parameter and is sensitive to the morphology of the system. In the DPD simulation, a melt of asymmetric block copolymers rapidly evolves towards the hexagonal structure that is predict...

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