Process-Accessible States of Block Copolymers

Process-directed self-assembly of block copolymers refers to thermodynamic processes that reproducibly direct the kinetics of structure formation from a starting, unstable state into a selected, metastable mesostructure. We investigate the kinetics of self-assembly of linear ACB triblock copolymers after a rapid transformation of the middle C block from B to A. This prototypical process (e.g., photochemical transformation) converts the initial, equilibrium mesophase of the ABB copolymer into a well-defined but unstable, starting state of the AAB copolymer. The spontaneous structure formation that ensues from this unstable state becomes trapped in a metastable mesostructure, and we systematically explore which metastable mesostructures can be fabricated by varying the block copolymer composition of the initial and final states. In addition to the equilibrium mesophases of linear AB diblock copolymers, this diagram of process-accessible states includes 7 metastable periodic mesostructures, inter alia, Schoen's F-RD periodic minimal surface. Generally, we observe that the final, metastable mesostructure of the AAB copolymer possesses the same symmetry as the initial, equilibrium mesophase of the ABB copolymer.