Morphology Transition of Diblock Copolymer with Nanoparticles Confined in Cylindrical Nanopores

Abstract

Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations on self-assembly behavior of diblock copolymers (DCP) with nanoparticles confined in cylindrical nanopores are perfomed to study the morphology transition of DCP affected by the confined ratio of the cylindrical confinement diameter to the block copolymer domain spacing, the wall-polymer interactions, the particle-polymer interaction potential and the component concentration. The simulation results show that nanoparticles have a pronounced effect on the morphology transition of DCP and can therefore be considered as an important aspect in controlling the confined self-assembly in cylindrical confinement. Besides, the phase diagram indicates the process of morphology transition.