Disordered micelle regime for conformationally asymmetric sphere-forming diblock copolymers

Long-lived micellar structure in the disordered state has been postulated to be the origin of complex sphere-forming phases in thermal processing of block polymers. The confirmation of this phenomenon is contingent on developing a deep understanding of the behavior of disordered micelle near the order-disorder transition. We investigated the effect of conformational asymmetry to the compositionally asymmetric disordered state in finite-length diblock copolymer using Monte Carlo Field-Theoretic Simulation (MCFTS). MCFTS includes fluctuations in the composition field which natively produces disordered micelles at sufficient segregation strength. We examined the structure of the disordered state through both real space method and its structure factor. Our calculations seek to confirm existing theoretical predictions on the effects of conformational asymmetry over different segregation strengths and provide new understanding to the behavior of the disordered phase near the order-disorder transition.