Phase behaviour of active particles in block copolymer melts

Abstract

Block copolymer melts offer a unique template to control the position and alignment of nanoparticles due to their ability to self-assemble into periodic ordered structures. Active Brownian particles are shown to co-assemble with block copolymers leading to emergent organised structures. The block copolymer acts as a soft confinement that can control the self-propulsion of the active Brownian particles, both for interface-segregated and selective nanoparticles. At moderate activity regimes, active Brownian particles can form organised structures such as polarised trains or rotating vortexes. At high activity, the contrast in the polymeric and colloidal time scales can lead to particle swarms with distorted block copolymer morphology, due to the competition between the polymeric self-assembly and the active Brownian self-propulsion.