The mesoscopic dynamic simulation (MesoDyn) has been carried out to investigate the phase structure and the aggregate properties of triblock copolymers (ethylene oxide)37 (propylene oxide)56 (ethylene oxide)37 (P105) in aqueous solution. A Gaussian chain model is successfully built according to the equivalent chain method and the Flory–Huggins interaction parameters, χ, used for determining the repulsions between different chain segments are computed. Simulation results show that P105 can form several microstructures including spherical micelles, ellipsoid micellar cluster, worm-like micelles, defective bicontinuous phase, and bicontinuous phase with increasing concentration. A special transition phase structure of P105 is found in the spherical micellar region. The dynamic evolution processes of spherical micelles are investigated by observing the induction time before phase separation and the changing of isosurface during phase separation. The influence of P105 concentration on the density of micelles at equilibrium state is also discussed, which shows that the increase of P105 concentration will lead to the decrease of micelles' amount. Two kinds of growth mechanisms during phase separation are discussed by MesoDyn simulation.
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.