Hydrodynamics and microphase ordering in block copolymers: Are hydrodynamics required for ordered phases with periodicity in more than one dimension?

• DOI: 10.1063/1.1814976
• Publication Date: 2004-11-30T23:09:06Z
• Authors: Mark A. Horsch; Zhenli Zhang; Christopher R. Ia...; Sharon C. Glotzer
• Keywords: Dissipative particle dynamics; Dimensionless quantity; Brownian dynamics; BATES

We use Brownian dynamics (BD), molecular dynamics, and dissipative particle to study the phase behavior of diblock copolymer melts determine if hydrodynamics is required in formation phases with greater than one-dimensional periodicity. present a diagram for copolymers predicted by BD provide relationship between inverse dimensionless temperature epsilon/k(B)T Flory-Huggins chi parameter, allowing quantitative comparison methods mean field predictions. Our results concerning are good qualitative agreement theoretical predictions Matsen Bates [M. W. F. S. Bates, Macromolecules 29, 1091 (1996)]; however, fluctuation effects arising from finite polymer lengths substantially alter boundaries. pertaining contrast earlier work Groot et al. [R. D. Groot, T. J. Madden, Tildesley, Chem. Phys. 110, 9739 (1999); Frenkel B. Smit, Understanding Molecular Simulation, 2nd ed. (Academic, New York, 2001)]. In particular, we obtain hexagonal ordered cylinder BD, method that does not include hydrodynamics.