Sequence-encoded Conformation Pathways in Viscoelastic Microphase Separation of Multiblock Copolymers

Zhe-Peng Zhu; Jia-Ping Lin; Liang-Shun Zhang

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3705-7

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Sequence-encoded Conformation Pathways in Viscoelastic Microphase Separation of Multiblock Copolymers

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-07-02

- Sequence-encoded Conformation Pathways in Viscoelastic Microphase Separation of Multiblock Copolymers
- Sequence-encoded Conformation Pathways in Viscoelastic Microphase Separation of Multiblock Copolymers
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science 2026年44卷页码：1-13
- Affiliations：
  
  Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
- Author bio：
  
  zhangls@ecust.edu.cn
- Funds：
  
  This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22573032 and 22333002) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (No. 25ZR1401091). The KingFa Company is also acknowledged for their funding.;The authors declare no interest conflict.Electronic supplementary information (ESI) is available free of charge in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s10118-026-3705-7. Details of dynamic self-consistent field theory for multiblock copolymers, schematic illustration of multiblock copolymers, morphological evolution of triblock copolymers with no disparity in bulk moduli, time evolution of thermodynamic and viscoelastic forces, microphase-separated morphologies of triblock copolymers, effect of end-block asymmetry on conformation evolution of triblock copolymers, morphological evolution of tetrablock copolymers are included in ESI.The simulation data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available but can be obtained from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The author's contact information: zhangls@ecust.edu.cn (L. Zhang).
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3705-7
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2026-03-11，
  
  录用：2026-04-07，
  
  网络首发：2026-07-01，
  
  纸质出版：2026-05
- Accepted：
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Zhu, Z. P.; Lin, J. P.; Zhang, L. S. Sequence-encoded conformation pathways in viscoelastic microphase separation of multiblock copolymers. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3705-7

Zhe-Peng Zhu, Jia-Ping Lin, Liang-Shun Zhang. Sequence-encoded Conformation Pathways in Viscoelastic Microphase Separation of Multiblock Copolymers[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-13.
Zhu, Z. P.; Lin, J. P.; Zhang, L. S. Sequence-encoded conformation pathways in viscoelastic microphase separation of multiblock copolymers. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3705-7 DOI：

Zhe-Peng Zhu, Jia-Ping Lin, Liang-Shun Zhang. Sequence-encoded Conformation Pathways in Viscoelastic Microphase Separation of Multiblock Copolymers[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-13. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3705-7.

摘要

Abstract

Deciphering how molecular sequences of block copolymers program their self-assembly pathways is a pivotal pursuit in polymer science. To this end

we integrated viscoelastic constitutive relations into dynamic self-consistent field theory (DSCFT) to probe the spatiotemporally coupled evolution of nanostructures and chain conformations in sequence-defined multiblock copolymers during viscoelastic microphase separation. The DSCFT simulations reveal that the linear sequence of slow-relaxing “hard” and fast-relaxing “soft” blocks encodes two programmable kinetic motifs: a hard-soft-hard sequence drives a sharp

droplet-coalescence-triggered conversion from loop to bridge conformations during viscoelasticity-mediated phase inversion

whereas a soft-hard-soft sequence governs a gradual

network-contraction-driven relaxation of chain conformations. Serving as modular kinetic codes identified in the system of triblock copolymers

these kinetic motifs were shown to operate concurrently within tetrablock chains and generalize to penta- and hexa-block architectures

demonstrating the scalability and robustness of sequence-encoded dynamics. This work establishes the paradigm of sequence-encoded viscoelastic kinetics

providing a mechanism for controlling pathway-dependent self-assembly at the molecular level.

关键词

Keywords

references

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