Tilt grain boundaries in a diblock copolymer ordered nanocomposite lamellar phase

Abstract

A hybrid self-consistent field theory/density functional theory method is applied to predict tilt (kink) grain boundary structures between lamellar domains of a symmetric diblock copolymer with added spherical nanoparticles. Structures consistent with experimental observations are found and theoretical evidence is provided in support of a hypothesis regarding the positioning of nanoparticles. Some particle distributions are predicted for situations not yet examined by experiment. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.