Interface Repulsion and Lamellar Structures in Thin Films of Homopolymer Blends due to Thermal Oscillations

Louis Pigard and Marcus Müller
Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 237801 – Published 13 June 2019
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Abstract

In equilibrium the interface potential that describes the interaction between two AB interfaces in a binary blend of A and B homopolymers is attractive at all distances, resulting in coarsening of the blend morphology even in the absence of interface curvature. We demonstrate that the dissipative assembly in response to a time-periodic variation of the blend incompatibility qualitatively alters this behavior; i.e., for suitable parameters the interface potential exhibits a periodic spatial modulation and AB interfaces adopt a well-defined distance. We explore for which oscillation periods and amplitudes an interface repulsion occurs and demonstrate that we can control the preferred interface distance over a wide range by varying the oscillation period. Using particle-based simulations we explicitly demonstrate that this dissipative assembly of a homopolymer blend results in a lamellar structure with multiple planar interfaces in a thin film geometry.

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  • Received 6 March 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.237801

© 2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft MatterStatistical Physics & ThermodynamicsNonlinear Dynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Louis Pigard and Marcus Müller*

  • University of Goettingen, Institute for Theoretical Physics, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

  • *mmueller@theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de

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Issue

Vol. 122, Iss. 23 — 14 June 2019

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