Chain bridging in a model of semicrystalline multiblock copolymers.

Recent experimental observations have suggested an intimate connection between the chain conformations and mechanical properties of semicrystalline multiblock copolymers. Motivated by these studies, we present a theoretical study evaluating the bridging/looping fractions in a model of semicrystalline multiblock copolymers. We model the noncrystalline block (A) as a flexible Gaussian chain and the crystalline block (B) as a semiflexible chain with a temperature dependent rigidity and interactions that favor the formation of parallel oriented bonds. Using self-consistent field theory, the bridging fractions of the various domains in different multiblock copolymers (ABA, BAB, ABABA, and BABAB) are evaluated and compared with their flexible counterparts. In general, we observe that for both triblock and pentablock copolymers, rendering one of the blocks crystallizable promotes bridging in that component while reducing the bridging in the other noncrystallizable component. Moreover, the bridging fractions in tri- and pentablock copolymers were seen to be quantitatively similar except insofar as being normalized by the volume fraction of bridgeable units.