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Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Synthesis of Monodisperse Cylindrical Nanoparticles via Crystallization-driven Self-assembly of Biodegradable Block Copolymers
Published on: June 20, 2019
Influence of polymer chain length and concentration on the deposition patterns of linear diblock copolymer solution
Han-Wen Pei1,2, Jun Zhang1,2, Zhao-Yan Sun1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry and Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130022, China. zysun@ciac.ac.cn.
Abstract:
We perform molecular dynamics simulations to study deposition patterns of linear diblock copolymer solution nanodroplets on a solid surface (a wall). The current work mainly investigates the influence of the polymer concentration, chain length, and solvent-wall interactions. Polymer block-wall interaction strengths (εPa(Pb)W) are modified to simulate polymer blocks with different adsorption behaviors, such as weak adsorbable (εPa(Pb)W = 0.6), moderate adsorbable (εPa(Pb)W = 1.0), and strong adsorbable (εPa(Pb)W = 1.2) polymer blocks. The deposition patterns are summarized into diagrams, including penetrating and nonpenetrating ridge-like structures, penetrating and nonpenetrating coffee-ring structures, and multilayer structures with and without defects. We determine factors that influence the deposition structure of the droplet and unveil the mechanism of the formation process of the pattern. This work helps in understanding the deposition pattern of linear diblock copolymer solution nanodroplets, which is beneficial for potential applications involving nanodroplet evaporation.
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