Fluctuation Effects in the Theory of Microphase Separation of Diblock Copolymers in the Presence of an Electric Field

Gunkel, Ilja; Stepanow, S.; Thurn‐Albrecht, Thomas; Trimper, Steffen

doi:10.1021/ma0623993

Cited by 26 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…26 It was also predicted for block copolymer melts as a result of suppression of the composition fluctuations by electric field (static treatment), 27 which we do not consider here.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Mechanisms of electric-field-induced alignment of block copolymer lamellae

2009

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“…26 It was also predicted for block copolymer melts as a result of suppression of the composition fluctuations by electric field (static treatment), 27 which we do not consider here.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Mechanisms of electric-field-induced alignment of block copolymer lamellae

2009

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“…The weak first-order phase transition occurring in short polymers is shifted closer to the mean-field value, that is, the ODT point is shifted to higher temperatures (Gunkel et al, 2007;Stepanow and Thurn-Albrecht, 2009). As a result, phase separation is favored even if ε = 0.…”

Section: B Block-copolymer Phase Transitionsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Colloquium: Phase transitions in polymers and liquids in electric fields

Tsori

2009

Rev. Mod. Phys.

101

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The structure and thermodynamic state of a system changes under the influence of external electric fields. Neutral systems are characterized by their dielectric constant ε, while charged ones also by their charge distribution. In this Colloquium several phenomena occurring in soft-matter systems in spatially uniform and nonuniform fields are surveyed and the role of the conductivity σ and the linear or nonlinear dependency of ε on composition are identified. Uniform electric fields are responsible for elongation of droplets, for destabilization of interfaces between two liquids, and for mixing effects in liquid mixtures. Electric fields, when acting on phases with mesoscopic order, also give rise to block copolymer orientation, to destabilization of polymer-polymer interfaces, and to order-order phase transitions. The role of linear and nonlinear dependences of ε on composition will be elucidated in these systems. In addition to the dielectric anisotropy, existence of a finite conductivity leads to appearance of large stresses when these systems are subject to external fields and usually to a reduction in the voltages required for the instabilities or phase transitions to occur. Finally, phase transitions which occur in nonuniform fields are described and emphasis on the importance of ε and σ is given.

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“…As for the melt of block copolymers, the lamellar microdomains have been found to orient parallel to the electric fields [11,[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55] when the disordered melt was cooled down below T ODT in the presence of the electric fields. It has been also found that cylindrical microdomains in the melt align parallel to the electric field [51][52][53].…”

Section: Electric Fieldsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, Gunkel et al [55] have developed a similar approach by including the composition fluctuation, and have arrived at…”

Section: Electric Fieldsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress in control of microdomain orientation in block copolymers – Efficiencies of various external fields

Sakurai

2008

Polymer

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a b s t r a c tRecent progresses in control of orientation for block copolymer microdomains using external fields, such as force fields, electric fields, and magnetic fields will be reviewed. Since it has been more recognized that such explicit external fields are not necessarily required, implicit (unconscious) external fields, which mean those imposed automatically onto block copolymers, irrespective of intention, will also be covered under categories of ''surface fields'' and ''directional fields'', where self-organizing abilities of block copolymers are utilized for performance of spontaneous orientation (or in other words selforientation). Although some of these phenomena of the self-orientation have been already used in application-oriented researches towards nanotechnology, the mechanisms of self-orientation still remain ambiguous. Moreover, although there have been reported interesting and significant findings on the selforientation in the recent decades, it cannot be stated that the individual findings are well correlated with each other to draw formulated cognition. Therefore, in this feature article, we systematically discuss them under the new categories of the implicit external fields for a better understanding of phenomena and hopefully mechanisms of microdomain orientation.

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Fluctuation Effects in the Theory of Microphase Separation of Diblock Copolymers in the Presence of an Electric Field

Cited by 26 publications

References 26 publications

Mechanisms of electric-field-induced alignment of block copolymer lamellae

Mechanisms of electric-field-induced alignment of block copolymer lamellae

Colloquium: Phase transitions in polymers and liquids in electric fields

Progress in control of microdomain orientation in block copolymers – Efficiencies of various external fields

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