Mesophases of Regularly Branched Copolymers

ABSTRACTThe phase diagram of A/B block copolymers is determined when the A block is a flexible, linear homopolymer, and the B block has a regularly branched tree structure with G generations. The predictions of a classical-path analysis and a lattice self-consistent mean field calculation are in general agreement. The phase diagram is considerably skewed toward keeping the A blocks inside cylindrical or spherical cores with the branched block forming a corona. There is little, if any, tendency for the branched arms to fold back to facilitate packing.