Lamellar-in-lamellar self-assembled C-b-(B-b-A)(m)-b-B-b-C multiblock copolymers: Alexander-de Gennes approach and dissipative particle dynamics simulations

A simple theoretical analysis of the lamellar-in-lamellar self-assembled state of ternary C-b-(B-b-A)(m)-b-B-b-C multiblock copolymer melts in the strong segregation limit is presented using the Alexander de Gennes approximation. For a given value of m, the influence of the chain length of the various blocks and the value of the Flory-Huggins chi(AB) and chi(BC) interaction parameters on the number k of internal domains is discussed in detail. The theoretically predicted tendencies are corroborated by computer simulations using the dissipative particle dynamics technique