AGGREGATION OF COIL CRYSTALLINE BLOCK COPOLYMERS - EQUILIBRIUM CRYSTALLIZATION

A scaling analysis of aggregates formed by coil-crystalline diblock copolymers in a selective solvent of low molecular weight is presented. Micelles lamellae and cylinders are considered. The aggregates' cores are assumed to consist of fold crystallized blocks. The two surface tensions associated with fold crystals cause significant core anisotropy. As in rod-coil micelles, crew-cut micelles are unstable. Otherwise, the scaling behavior is similar to that of aggregates of flexible block copolymers. The cores of such aggregates, when used as seeds to induce homopolymer crystallization, may allow control of the homopolymer crystal fold size.