Manipulating the ABCs of self-assembly via low-χ block polymer design
Abstract
Molecular sequence and interactions dictate the mesoscale structure of all self-assembling soft materials. Block polymers harness this relationship to access a rich variety of nanostructured materials but typically require energetically unfavorable (high-χ) interactions between blocks. Contrary to this convention, we demonstrate that ABC triblock terpolymers featuring low-χ interactions between end blocks can self-assemble into a unique mixed morphology that subverts the demands of chain connectivity. As a consequence of block–block mixing, the characteristic length scales of these self-assembled structures exhibit an unusual trend: As the total polymer size increases, the domain spacing decreases. These developments expand the vocabulary of block polymer design and open additional avenues for manipulating the self-assembly of synthetic macromolecules.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jun 06, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1701386114
Entities
People
- Alice B Chang
- Byeongdu Lee
- Carol M. Garland
- Christopher M Bates
- Mark W. Matsen
- Robert H. Grubbs
- Russell K W Spencer
- Simon C Jones
Organizations
- Argonne National Laboratory
- California Institute of Technology
- National Science Foundation
- The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
- United States Department of Defense
- University of California
- University of Waterloo