Control of nanostructures in multi-components polymer brushes

In addition to switching surfaces, multicomponent polymer brushes have the ability to modify their surface with microphase-separated various nanoscale structures similar to block copolymer thin film. While there have been numerous theoretical and numerical efforts to predict the phase behavior of polymer brushes, comprehensive understandings on the roles of numerous system variables on morphology formation are limited. Here, we study microphase separations of block copolymer brushes and mixed polymer brushes using a coarse-grained simulation model with a generalized Hamiltonian, which allows the system to have a topologically unconstrained free surface. The effects on major system variables, including molecular composition, grafting density, segregation strength, surface affinity, chain stiffness, and solvent quality on morphologies in brushes, are investigated within a single simulation framework. We summarize our findings in phase diagrams and provide a discussion about the underlying phenomena dictating the behavior of polymer brushes.