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Controllable Nanostructural Transitions in Grafted Nanoparticle–Block Copolymer Composites
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We report a theoretical investigation of self-assembled nanostructures of polymer-grafted nanoparticles in a block copolymer and explore underlying physical mechanisms by employing the self-consistent field method. By varying the particle concentration or the chain length and density of the grafted polymer, one can not only create various ordered morphologies (e.g., lamellar or hexagonally packed patterns) but also control the positions of nanoparticles either at the copolymer interfaces or in the center of one-block domains. The nanostructural transitions we here report are mainly attributed to the competition between entropy and enthalpy.
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Controllable Nanostructural Transitions in Grafted Nanoparticle–Block Copolymer Composites
),
Abstract
We report a theoretical investigation of self-assembled nanostructures of polymer-grafted nanoparticles in a block copolymer and explore underlying physical mechanisms by employing the self-consistent field method. By varying the particle concentration or the chain length and density of the grafted polymer, one can not only create various ordered morphologies (e.g., lamellar or hexagonally packed patterns) but also control the positions of nanoparticles either at the copolymer interfaces or in the center of one-block domains. The nanostructural transitions we here report are mainly attributed to the competition between entropy and enthalpy.
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Acknowledgements
Support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 10972121, 10732050, and 10772093), the Ministry of Education (SRFDP 20090002110047), and the 973 program of MOST (No. 2010CB631005) are acknowledged.
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