Morphologies of Bottle-Brush Block Copolymers

We investigate the self-assembly of bottle-brush block copolymers into well-defined periodic morphologies by using molecular dynamics simulations of a bead-spring model. The microphase separation is driven by the chemical incompatibility between the different blocks of side chains leading to the formation of two- and three-domain lamellae and hexagonally packed cylinders. The molecular asymmetry required for the formation of cylindrical domains is not introduced by the difference in volume fractions, but by the asymmetry of the side chain lengths. Such behavior deviates significantly from what is typically known for linear block copolymers. The obtained morphology maps provide a genuine way of understanding the role of molecular architecture in achieving experimentally desired structures for nanoporous and photonic materials based on the self-assembly of bottle-brush block copolymers.