Abstract
Molecular-statistical theory of rod-coil diblock copolymers is proposed using the general density functional approach which enables one to consider the cases of both weak and strong segregation. The free energy of the system is expressed as a functional of the phase-space densities of rod and coil monomers, which depend on the orientational and translational order parameters. Temperature-concentration phase diagrams are obtained and the profiles of all order parameters are calculated numerically by minimizing the polymer free energy. The lamellar phase is shown to possess strong orientational order which is partially induced by the phase structural anisotropy. The enhanced stability of the lamellar phase is determined by a combination of the microphase separation effects and the emergence of long-range smectic order.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 042701 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Physical Review E |
| Volume | 100 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Oct 2019 |
Funding
The authors acknowledge the support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russian Federation within the State assignments of Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis RAS (general theory formulation by M.A.O.) and FSRC “Crystallography and Photonics” RAS (numerical calculations by M.V.G.). The authors are grateful to A. Antonov for a thorough proofreading of the paper.
Keywords
- liquid-crystal
- rod-coil diblock copolymer
- molecular theory
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