Nanofabrication processes based on self-assembling block copolymers are coming important tools in nanotechnology owing to its properties that provide high regular and ordered patterns. Here, we report experimental results, and a theoretical discussion, of selforganized submicrometric structures of a poly(styrene)-b-poly(ethene-co-butene-1)-bpoly(styrene) triblock copolymer (SEBS) -15:70:15 weight ratio with Mw= 112,000 gmol -1 and Mw/Mn = 1.15 -which are formed during evaporation of its solution followed by dewetting process. We observed regular nanostructures with long-range order in the form of periodic ribbons and dots, which strongly depend on the critical polymer concentrations. The whole process comprised a sequence of events, involving undulations due to thermocapillary flow, dewetting and Rayleigh instability, as well as the contribution of phase segregation among the components of the copolymer. After the complete drying, two different patterns were observed: the parallel oriented ribbons and a hexagonal array of dots. AFM pictures clearly show that the instability of the ribbons decays into dots. Also, the microphase separation phenomenon of the block copolymer played an important role in this process, establishing the thickness of the final nanostructures. Submicrometric templates in silicone obtained from such structures shows that this is promising lithographic technique for nanoelectronics.
In this work, we use the Gouy–Stodola theorem to calculate the entropy production rate in the inflationary epoch of the universe. This theorem allows us the simple calculation of entropy and entropy production rate occasioned by the decaying of the inflaton scalar field. Both the entropy and entropy production rate achieve large values, agreeing with the expected values present in the literature.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.