This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Gersappe, D Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Modelling Micelle Formation in Confined Geometries

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA

We use numerical self consistent field calculations to determine the effect confinement has on the critical micelle concentration for diblock copolymers. Our studies show that increasing the confinement increases the free energy of micelle formation. As the confinement increases, the micelle undergoes a decrease in its size, until finally the entropic losses associated with packing the copolymer into a smaller micelle become too large and the micelle structure becomes unstable. Our results have important implications when diblock copolymers are used as compatibilizers in thin films, as our studies indicate that micelle formation will be suppressed in thin films.

High Performance Polymers, Vol. 12, No. 4, 573-579 (2000)
DOI: 10.1088/0954-0083/12/4/312


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?