Eur. Phys. J. E (2009) 29: 219-227
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2009-10470-2

Regular Article

Melt brushes of diblock copolymer

Department of Mathematics, University of Reading, Whiteknights, RG6 6AX, Reading, UK

^* e-mail: m.w.matsen@reading.ac.uk

Received: 1 April 2009
Accepted: 5 May 2009
Published online: 24 June 2009

Abstract

Using self-consistent field theory (SCFT), we investigate the morphologies formed by a melt brush of AB diblock copolymers grafted to a flat substrate by their B ends. In addition to a laterally uniform morphology, SCFT predicts three ordered morphologies exhibiting different periodic patterns at the air surface: a hexagonal array of A-rich dots, an alternating sequence of A- and B-rich stripes, and a hexagonal pattern of B-rich dots. When the phase diagram of the tethered film is plotted as a function of A/B incompatibility, N , and diblock composition, f , it resembles the bulk phase diagram with the periodic phases converging to a mean-field critical point at weak segregation. The periodic-phase region in the phase diagram shrinks with increasing grafting density and expands when the air surface acquires an affinity for the grafted B blocks.