Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

High-Contrast and Fast Photorheological Switching of a Twist-Bend Nematic Liquid Crystal
Published on: October 31, 2019
Surface-induced phase transitions in ultrathin films of block copolymers
1Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA.
Abstract:
We study theoretically the lamellar-disorder-lamellar phase transitions of AB diblock and tetrablock copolymers confined in symmetric slitlike pores where the planar surface discriminatingly adsorbs A segments but repels B segments, mimicking the hydrophobic/hydrophilic effects that have been recently utilized for the fabrication of environmentally responsive "smart" materials. The effects of film thickness, polymer volume fraction, and backbone structure on the surface morphology have been investigated using a polymer density-functional theory. The surface-induced phase transition is manifested itself in a discontinuous switch of microdomains or a jump in the surface density dictated by the competition of surface adsorption and self-aggregation of the block copolymers. The surface-induced first-order phase transition is starkly different from the thickness-induced symmetric-asymmetric or horizontal-vertical transitions in thin films of copolymer melts reported earlier.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
Phase Transitions
Phase Transitions
Characteristics and Nomenclature of Copolymers
Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...

