Cornucopian cylindrical aggregate morphologies from self-assembly of amphiphilic triblock copolymer in selective media.
We have investigated, both experimentally and theoretically, the aggregation of ABA amphiphilic triblock copolymers in dilute solution. We observed a number of complex architectures having toroidal and network structures, including some novel ones. The computational analyses of these systems offer some insight into the origins of the self-assembly of these amphiphiles. The results we obtained using real-space self-consistent field theory reveal that the formation of network and toroidal structures from the block copolymers occurs as the result of the breaking of "inhomogeneous vesicles"; the observed polymorphism results from the existence of multiple metastable states.
Jiang
Ying
Y
Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, People's Republic of China.
Zhu
Jintao
J
Jiang
Wei
W
Liang
Haojun
H
D003198:Computer Simulation; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / Q000379:methods; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D011108:Polymers