THE EFFECT OF LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS OF POLYMER-CHAINS ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF SUPERSTRUCTURES IN DIBLOCK COPOLYMERS

The theory of superstructures that are formed in strongly segregated diblock copolymers was modified by taking into account the differences in local characteristics of the constituent components of diblock copolymers (chain thickness and stiffness). The differences in local characteristics of polymer chains were shown to result in the displacement of the boundary between the structures of different morphology in such a way that the thinner and stiffer block (when it represents the minor component) tends to extend its existence range inside the domain (microphase) with a greater surface curvature (in particular, inside a spherical domain, when undergoing the transition to cylindrical structure, or inside a cylindrical domain, when undergoing the transition to lamellar structure). Conversely, when the corresponding component dominates, it tends to reduce the range of existence in external spherical and cylindrical layers. Comparison with the published data confirmed