Strong Segregation Limit theory copolymer

In this review, we introduce another approach to study the multiscale structures of polymer materials based on a lattice model. We first show the development of a Helmholtz energy model of mixing for polymers based on close-packed lattice model by combining molecular simulation with statistical mechanics. Then, holes are introduced to account for the effect of pressure. Combined with WDA, this model of Helmholtz energy is further applied to develop a new lattice DFT to calculate the adsorption of polymers at solid-liquid interface. Finally, we develop a framework based on the strong segregation limit (SSL) theory to predict the morphologies of micro-phase separation of diblock copolymers confined in curved surfaces. 

We now turn to the case of block copolymers. Early work by Shull [20] considered a lamellar arrangement parallel to the walls only. From such calculations, one obtains a unified treatment of both the weak and the strong segregation limit within mean field theory, and a detailed description of the order parameter profiles across the thin film emerges. 

The first theories for block copolymers were introduced for the strong segregation limit (SSL) and the essential physical principles underlying phase behaviour in the SSL were established in the early 1970s [1]. Most notably, Helfand and coworkers [27-29] developed the self-consistent field (SCF) theory, this permitting the calculation of free energies, composition profiles and chain conformations. In the SCF theory, the external mean fields acting on a polymer chain are calculated self-consistently with the composition... 

The hydrophobic core of worm-like micelles may be further related to the molecular weight of the copolymers hydrophobic block. A fully stretched block of N/ monomer units would theoretically assemble into an object with diameter, d Np,, and blocks of ideal random coils would have d The strong segregation limit (SSL) theory predicts that strong segregation balances the interfacial tension against the chain elasticity and that the core diameter, d, of the worm micelles would scale with ZVai of the hydrophobic block at ... 

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