Self-Assembly of Cylinder-Forming ABA Triblock Copolymers under Cylindrical Confinement

The self-assembly of two types of linear ABA triblock copolymers confined in cylindrical nanopores is studied using simulated annealing. The effects of pore size and block copolymer chain architecture on morphology, chain conformations and bridging fraction are investigated. For the bulk cylinder-forming copolymers, novel structures such as helices and stacked toroids form, which depend sensitively on the pore size. Several significant differences between the two types of copolymers are predicted and explained based on the differences in their chain conformations and chain architectures. A simple model is proposed to explain the mean square radius of gyration for the bridge and loop chains.