Micellization behavior of star-block copolymers in a selective solvent: A Brownian dynamics simulation approach

Micellization behavior of (AB)(n) type star-block copolymer in a selective solvent for its outer block is investigated by using a Brownian dynamics simulation. Micellar properties are compared in terms of the arm number (n) of star-block copolymer. It is observed that the critical micelle concentration (cmc) shows a minimum when the cmc is plotted against the arm number. The star-block copolymer with longer soluble block shows the cmc minimum at smaller arm number than that with shorter soluble block. Although the star-block copolymer with multiple arms forms more compact core as compared to diblock copolymer, the average aggregation number is inversely proportional to the arm number (similar to1/n), which implies that the micelle size is invariant with the arm number. Theoretical predictions based on a simple mean field theory agree qualitatively well with the simulation results. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.