STATIC AND DYNAMIC SCATTERING FROM CYCLIC DIBLOCK COPOLYMER CHAINS IN SOLUTION

This work discusses the static and dynamic scattering properties of (A-B)r ring diblock copolymer chains in the semi-dilute solutions. The case of a symmetric diblock is considered in details. The results show substantial differences with respect to linear diblock copolymers. This is mainly due to the effect of connectivity of the chain extremities A and B leading to different conformations for both types of architectures. The additional entropic interaction in cyclic chains induces a decrease of the elastic scattering intensity and a shift of the location of its maximum to a higher q value. As for the dynamics, the fact that the two extremities are connected speeds up the frequency of the interdiffusion mode and shifts its minimum to higher q value. A discussion of hydrodynamic interactions is also included.