Cubic phases of block copolymers under shear and electric fields by cell dynamics simulation. I. Spherical phase.
Cell dynamics simulation is used to investigate pathways of sphere-to-cylinder transition in block copolymer melt under applied simple shear flow and electric field. Both fields can induce the transition when their strength is above some critical value. At weak fields the spherical phase is preserved, with spheres being deformed into ellipsoids. Weak shear flow is found to improve order in the spherical phase. Observed sliding of layers of spheres under shear is very similar to the experimental finding by Hamley et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 108, 6929 (1998)]. The kinetic pathways are sensitive to the degree of microphase separation in the system and hence affected by temperature. The details of the pathways are described by means of Minkowski functionals.
Pinna
Marco
M
Centre for Materials Science, Department of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, University of Central Lancashire, Preston PR1 2HE, United Kingdom.
Zvelindovsky
Andrei V
AV
Todd
S
S
Goldbeck-Wood
G
G