THE EFFECT OF LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PO LYMER-CHAINS ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF SUPERSTRUCTURES IN DIBLOCK COPOLYMERS

The theory of superstructures that are formed in strongly segregated d iblock copolymers was modified by taking into account the differences in local characteristics of the constituent components of diblock copo lymers (chain thickness and stiffness). The differences in local chara cteristics of polymer chains were shown to result in the displacement of the boundary between the structures of different morphology in such a way that the thinner and stiffer block (when it represents the mino r component) tends to extend its existence range inside the domain (mi crophase) with a greater surface curvature (in particular, inside a sp herical domain, when undergoing the transition to cylindrical structur e, or inside a cylindrical domain, when undergoing the transition to l amellar structure). Conversely, when the corresponding component domin ates, it tends to reduce the range of existence in external spherical and cylindrical layers. Comparison with the published data confirmed