Liquid-crystalline ordering in rod-coil diblock copolymers studied by mesoscale simulations

Using mesoscale dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations, which ignore all atomistic details, we show the formation of lamella mesophases by cooling a fully disordered system composed of symmetric (A₇B ₇) rod-coil diblock copolymers. Equilibration is achieved very rapidly using DPD, and isotropic, smectic A and crystalline phases of the rod-like blocks can be observed either by heating or cooling. An interesting pseudo-smectic phase can be characterized when the order-disorder transition temperature is above the clearing temperature. This phase gradually fades into a normal microphase-separated structure as the system is heated through the clearing temperature. Simulations of pure rods, however, show the formation of isotropic, nematic, smectic A and crystalline phases.