Mesophase separation of diblock copolymer confined in a cylindrical tube studied by dissipative particle dynamics

The morphologies of diblock copolymers confined in a cylindrical tube have been investigated by the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method. Results indicate that the morphology depends on the volume ratio of the immiscible blocks, the diameter of the cylindrical tube and the interactions between the blocks and between the confinement wall and blocks. For symmetric diblock copolymers, when the tube wall is uniform toward the two blocks, perpendicular lamellae or a stacked disk morphology are generally formed except when the diameter of the cylindrical tube is very small; in that case, a special bi-helix morphology forms because of the entropy effect. When the tube wall is non-uniform, as the diameter of the tube increases, perpendicular lamellae are first formed, then changing to parallel lamellae and, finally, back to perpendicular lamellae again. An intermediate morphology characterizing the transition between perpendicular and parallel lamellae is observed. If the non-uniformity of the wall is further enhanced, only parallel lamellae can be found. In the case of asymmetric diblock copolymers, more complex morphologies can be obtained. Multi-cylindrical micro-domains and a multilayer helical phase as well as other complex pictures are observed. Generally, the morphologies obtained could find their counterparts from experiments or Monte Carol simulations; however, differences do exist, especially in some cases of asymmetric diblock copolymers.