title: Monte Carlo simulations of the phase separation of a copolymer blend in a thin film.
abstract: Monte Carlo simulations were carried out to study the phase separation of a copolymer blend comprising an alternating copolymer and/or block copolymer in a thin film, and a phase diagram was constructed with a series of composed recipes. The effects of composition and segregation strength on phase separation were discussed in detail. The chain conformation of the block copolymer and alternating copolymer were investigated with changes of the segregation strength. Our simulations revealed that the segment distribution along the copolymer chain and the segregation strength between coarse-grained beads are two important parameters controlling phase separation and chain conformation in thin films of a copolymer blend. A well-controlled phase separation in the copolymer blend can be used to fabricate novel nanostructures.
authors.affiliation: Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Environment-friendly Polymer Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601 (P. R. China).
authors.forename: Zhexiao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Xiaoshuang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ru
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Xiangsong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jiasheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qian
keywords: Monte Carlo simulations; phase separation; polymer blends; segregation; thin films