Reentrant Phase Behavior in Diblock Copolymer AB/Homopolymer C Blends: A Combined Effect of Solvent Selectivity and Block Interactions

Zhi-Yao Liu; Hui Wang; Hong-Xia Bu; Juan Wang; Bao-Hui Li; Lu-Lu Liu

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3546-9

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Reentrant Phase Behavior in Diblock Copolymer AB/Homopolymer C Blends: A Combined Effect of Solvent Selectivity and Block Interactions

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-02-13

- Reentrant Phase Behavior in Diblock Copolymer AB/Homopolymer C Blends: A Combined Effect of Solvent Selectivity and Block Interactions
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 3, Pages: 857-868(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Qilu Normal University, Jinan 250200, China
  b.Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
  c.Department of Thermal Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China
- Author bio：
  
  liuzhiyaonku@163.com
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3546-9
  CLC：
- Received：26 November 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-12-20，
  
  Accepted：05 January 2026，
  
  Online First：06 February 2026，
  
  Published：15 March 2026
- Accepted：
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Liu, Z. Y.; Wang, H.; Bu, H. X.; Wang, J.; Li, B. H.; Liu, L. L. Reentrant phase behavior in diblock copolymer AB/homopolymer C blends: a combined effect of solvent selectivity and block interactions. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 857–868

Zhi-Yao Liu, Hui Wang, Hong-Xia Bu, et al. Reentrant Phase Behavior in Diblock Copolymer AB/Homopolymer C Blends: A Combined Effect of Solvent Selectivity and Block Interactions[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(3): 857-868.
Liu, Z. Y.; Wang, H.; Bu, H. X.; Wang, J.; Li, B. H.; Liu, L. L. Reentrant phase behavior in diblock copolymer AB/homopolymer C blends: a combined effect of solvent selectivity and block interactions. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 857–868 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3546-9.

Zhi-Yao Liu, Hui Wang, Hong-Xia Bu, et al. Reentrant Phase Behavior in Diblock Copolymer AB/Homopolymer C Blends: A Combined Effect of Solvent Selectivity and Block Interactions[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(3): 857-868. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3546-9.

摘要

The phase behavior of diblock copolymer AB/homopolymer C blends in concentrated aqueous solutions was investigated using a simulated annealing method. The studies reveal reentrant phase behavior in the system with increasing homopolymer content

driven by the competing swelling effects of the solvent and homopolymer.

Abstract

We investigated the phase behavior of diblock copolymer AB/homopolymer C blends in concentrated aqueous solutions using a simulated annealing method. Phase diagrams were constructed as a function of the concentration of all polymers (

) and the volume fraction of homopolymer (

). Rich phase transition sequences

were observed

especially reentrant phase transitions

such as lamellae → inverted cylinders → gyroids → lamellae → disorder

for a given

with increasing

. By analyzing the variations in the average contact numbers between different components and the effective volume fractions of B-domains

we elucidated the mechanisms of the reentrant phase transitions. We found that the strong attraction between B and C leads to the swelling of B-domains upon addition of homopolymer. Concurrently

the solvent preferentially swells the A-domains over the B+C-domains. The competing swelling effects of the solvent and homopolymer on the A-domains and B-domains

respectively

triggered the reentrant phase behavior in the symmetric AB copolymer system upon addition of homopolymer.

关键词

Keywords

references

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