0000000000501536
AUTHOR
G. J. Agur Sevink
Self-Assembly of Polymeric Particles in Poiseuille Flow: A Hybrid Lattice Boltzmann/External Potential Dynamics Simulation Study
We present a hybrid simulation method which allows one to study the dynamical evolution of self-assembling (co)polymer solutions in the presence of hydrodynamic interactions. The method combines an established dynamic density functional theory for polymers that accounts for the nonlocal character of chain dynamics at the level of the Rouse model, the external potential dynamics (EPD) model, with an established Navier–Stokes solver, the Lattice Boltzmann (LB) method. We apply the method to study the self-assembly of nanoparticles and vesicles in two-dimensional copolymer solutions in a typical microchannel Poiseuille flow profile. The simulations start from fully mixed systems which are sudd…
Hierarchical Structuring in Block Copolymer Nanocomposites through Two Phase-Separation Processes Operating on Different Time Scales
Tailoring the size and surface chemistry of nanoparticles allows one to control their position in a block copolymer, but this is usually limited to one-dimensional distribution across domains. Here, the hierarchical assembly of poly(ethylene oxide)-stabilized gold nanoparticles (Au-PEO) into hexagonally packed clusters inside mesostructured ultrathin films of polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) is described. A close examination of the structural evolution at different nanoparticle filling fractions and PEO ligand molecular weights suggests that the mechanism leading to this structure-within-structure is the existence of two phase separation processes operating on differe…
Nanopattern Evolution in Block Copolymer Films: Experiment, Simulations and Challenges
The present contribution reviews novel insights into block copolymer phase behavior and nanostructure formation in confined geometries. We focus on state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical progress in this area, with an emphasis on characterization methods and techniques that provide a quantitative framework for fundamental analysis. We discuss and compare basic system parameters that are readily controlled in simulations and in experiments, and present comparative stud- ies of increasing degree of complexity concerning the phase behavior and ordering dynamics of cylinder- and lamella-forming block copolymers in thin films.