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Updated: Sep 21, 2025

Synthesis of Monodisperse Cylindrical Nanoparticles via Crystallization-driven Self-assembly of Biodegradable Block Copolymers
Published on: June 20, 2019
Block Copolymer Self Assembly during Rapid Solvent Evaporation: Insights into Cylinder Growth and Stability
Sean P Paradiso1, Kris T Delaney2, Carlos J García-Cervera3
1Department of Chemical Engineering, ‡Materials Research Laboratory, Materials Department, and §Department of Mathematics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93016, United States.
Abstract:
Solvent evaporation has proven to be a remarkably successful tool for directing self-assembly in block copolymers, yet the microscopic mechanisms, processing history dependence and macroscopic control parameters influencing pattern selection remain poorly understood. Here, we leverage dynamical field theory simulations to clarify how copolymer self-assembly proceeds during evaporation. We find that cylinders in the vertical orientation tend to form under modest evaporation rates and relatively weak segregation strengths, and link this behavior to nontrivial, morphology-dependent density correlations present at the ordering front.
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