Perfectly Ordered Patterns Formed by a Heterogeneous Nucleation Process of Block Copolymer Self-Assembly Under...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Science
• Computational Physics

Background:

• Phase separation in polymer blends is crucial for material properties.
• Controlling nanoscale patterns is essential for advanced material applications.
• Heterogeneous nucleation is a key process in pattern formation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate heterogeneous nucleation in AB diblock/C homopolymer blends within rectangular confinement.
• To achieve large-scale, ordered hexagonal patterns by manipulating surface potentials.
• To identify conditions for defect-free pattern formation.

Main Methods:

• Cell dynamics simulation based on time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory.
• Modeling of binary blends (AB diblock and C homopolymer).
• Application of tailored surface potentials on rectangular confinement walls.

Main Results:

• A crucial condition was identified for inducing simultaneous heterogeneous nucleation via strong surface potential walls.
• Suppression of spontaneous and weak surface potential heterogeneous nucleation was achieved.
• Confinement effects ensured correlated positions of nucleated domains.
• The ordering process showed high tolerance to rectangular confinement dimensions.
• Observed defects were annihilated rapidly via annealing.

Conclusions:

• A facile route to prepare large-scale ordered patterns using simple rectangular confinement was demonstrated.
• Tailoring surface potentials is effective in controlling heterogeneous nucleation and pattern formation.
• The findings offer a pathway for fabricating defect-free nanostructures in polymer blends.