Self-Assembled Morphologies of Diblock Copolymer Brushes in Poor Solvents

Self-assembled morphologies of grafted linear AB diblock copolymers are investigated by a simulated annealing method. The copolymers are tethered to a flat substrate by the ends of the A blocks and immersed in a solution that is poor for both A and B components but exhibits a slight preference for one of the blocks. The morphological dependence of the system on the solvent selectivity, polymer grafting density, and the block lengths is …