Insights into ordered microstructures and ordering mechanisms of ABC star terpolymers by integrating dynamic self-consistent field theory and variable cell shape methods.

A theoretical approach coupling dynamic self-consistent field (SCF) theory for inhomogeneous polymeric fluids and variable cell shape (VCS) method for automatically adjusting cell shape and size is developed to investigate ordered microstructures and the ordering mechanisms of block copolymer melts. Using this simulation method, we first re-examined the microphase separation of the simplest AB diblock copolymers, and tested the validity and efficiency of the novel method by comparing the results with those obtained from the dynamic SCF theory. An appropriate relaxation parameter of the VCS method effectively accelerates the system towards a stable morphology without distortions or defects. The dynamic SCF/VCS method is then applied to identify the richness morphologies of ABC star terpolymers and explore the ordering mechanisms of star terpolymer melts quenched from homogenous states. A diverse range of ordered microstructures, including two-dimensional tiling patterns, hierarchical structures and ordinary microstructures, are predicted. Three types of ordering mechanisms, namely, one-step, quick-slow and step-wise procedures, are discovered in the disorder-to-order transition of ABC star terpolymers. The procedures of microphase separation in the ABC star terpolymer melts are remarkably affected by the composition of star terpolymers and the strength of interaction parameters.