DIBLOCK COPOLYMER BLENDS AS MIXTURES OF SURFACTANTS AND COSURFACTANTS

The effects of short diblock copolymers on the phase behavior of long diblock copolymer melts are investigated theoretically. Due to the ent halpy gain, the short chains segregate to the interfaces and change th e interfacial properties, behaving like cosurfactants in a surfactant system. It is shown that small amounts of short diblock copolymer chai ns at the interfaces are able to shift the phase boundaries of the sys tem, thus providing a new method to modify the morphologis of long dib lock copolymer melts.