SELF-CONSISTENT THEORY OF BLOCK COPOLYMER BLENDS - NEUTRAL SOLVENT

We present a theoretical study of the lamellar structure of diblock copolymers blended with neutral solvent. The calculations are based on numerical solutions of the equations of the mean field self-consistent theory of incompressible polymer/solvent blends, from the weak through to the strong segregation limits. For idealized model systems of symmetric copolymers and perfectly nonselective solvent, we examine the variation of the equilibrium lamellar thickness with molecular weight, Flory χ parameter, solvent quality, and copolymer volume fraction, as well as the distribution of solvent and polymer within the subdomains. We also examine a real system which has been extensively studied experimentally, namely PS-b-PI with the (nearly) nonselective solvent toluene. © 1990 American Institute of Physics.