Monte Carlo simulations of copolymer adsorption from copolymer/homopolymer melts at planar chemically patterned surfaces

摘要

We investigate the adsorption of copolymers from copolymer/homopolymer mixtures at planar chemically patterned surfaces. The Monte Carlo bond fluctuation model is used in conjunction with configurational biased Monte Carlo moves to study the effect of: i) the copolymer microstructure, ii) the size and spatial distribution of chemical heterogeneities on the substrate, and iii) the polymer/substrate interactions on the ability of the copolymer to recognize the substrate chemical pattern. Our results confirm that the surface pattern recognition occurs whenever the characteristic size of the copolymer distribution sequence matches that of the surface heterogeneity domain. Moreover, the copolymer sequence distribution plays a crucial role in determining the extent of the surface pattern transfer into the bulk material. Our results reveal that more pronounced surface pattern transfer into the bulk occurs for small attractions of the adsorbing species to particular surface domains relative to the large attractions.