Physical deposition behavior of charged amphiphilic diblock copolymers: Effect of charge distribution and electric field

Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate physical deposition behavior of charged amphiphlic diblock copolymers. The effects of solvent selectivity, charge distribution in amphiphlic diblock copolymers, and electric field strength on deposition conformations are studied qualitatively. Flat amphiphilic bilayers, which consist of hydrophilic monolayer and hydrophobic brush, are formed by physical deposition of charged amphiphlic diblock copolymers in nonselective solvents. For physically deposited amphiphlic diblock copolymers in selective solvents, amphiphilic bilayers consist of disc-shaped hydrophilic monolayers and hydrophobic nanospheres are found. This study sheds light on the formation of various amphiphlic diblock copolymer deposition conformations in different solvents and interaction mechanism of different components. Furthermore, the evolution of physical deposition process of charged amphiphlic diblock copolymers layer offers new insight to the controlling of amphiphilic bilayer thickness, hydrophobic nanosphere size, and interface property of depositional amphiphlic diblock copolymers.