Flexible/Branched Block Copolymer Melts

I determined the phase boundaries for regularly branched block copolymers in the self-consistent classical path, circular/spherical unit cell approximation. In contrast to the case for linear chains, end-free “dead” zones are highly suppressed for highly branched molecules, greatly simplifying the integral equations to be solved. For the linear/branched diblock copolymers considered here, the phase boundaries between microphases are considerably shifted toward small volume fractions of the branched species. The equilibrium distribution of chain free ends is asymptotically uniform at high degrees of branching, consistent with the “filled core” picture of single dendrimer conformations.