Macromolecules, Vol.51, No.19, 7713-7721, 2018
Stability of Two-Dimensional Dodecagonal Quasicrystalline Phase of Block Copolymers
Quasicrystalline (QC) phases have been observed in various condensed matter systems including self-assembling block copolymer (BCP) melts. Theoretical study of the thermodynamic stability of QC phases presents a long-standing unsolved problem because of the aperiodic nature of the structures. Here, we report a combination method to study the thermodynamic stability of two-dimensional dodecagonal quasicrystalline (DDQC) phase with both ideal tiling and random tiling patterns formed by ABCB tetrablock terpolymers. This method applies the self consistent field theory coupled with the Stampfli self-similarity construction to accurately calculate the free energy of the periodic DDQC approximants and then uses a cluster model to predict the stability of aperiodic DDQC phase. Surprisingly, we find a stable DDQC approximant but metastable ideal tiling DDQC structures. Moreover, the random tiling DDQC structures as a mesoscopic coexistence of two neighboring periodic substructures of DDQC might become stable.