title: Micellization behavior of star-block copolymers in a selective solvent: A Brownian dynamics simulation approach.
abstract: Micellization behavior of (AB)n type star-block copolymer in a selective solvent for its outer block is investigated by using a Brownian dynamics simulation. Micellar properties are compared in terms of the arm number (n) of star-block copolymer. It is observed that the critical micelle concentration (cmc) shows a minimum when the cmc is plotted against the arm number. The star-block copolymer with longer soluble block shows the cmc minimum at smaller arm number than that with shorter soluble block. Although the star-block copolymer with multiple arms forms more compact core as compared to diblock copolymer, the average aggregation number is inversely proportional to the arm number (approximately 1/n), which implies that the micelle size is invariant with the arm number. Theoretical predictions based on a simple mean field theory agree qualitatively well with the simulation results.
authors.affiliation: Hyperstructured Organic Materials Research Center and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
authors.forename: June
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.forename: Kwang Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Cheol-Hee
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Won Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Jo