Lamellar-in-lamellar self-assembled C–b–(B–b–A)m–b–B–b–C multiblock copolymers: Alexander–de Gennes approach and dissipative particle dynamics simulations

Abstract

A simple theoretical analysis of the lamellar-in-lamellar self-assembled state of ternary C–b–(B–b–A)_m–b–B–b–C multiblock copolymer melts in the strong segregation limit is presented using the Alexander–de Gennes approximation. For a given value of m, the influence of the chain length of the various blocks and the value of the Flory–Huggins χ_AB and χ_BC interaction parameters on the number k of internal domains is discussed in detail. The theoretically predicted tendencies are corroborated by computer simulations using the dissipative particle dynamics technique.