Effects of Dipolar Interactions on Microphase Separation in Diblock Copolymer Melts

We have studied the effects of dipolar interactions on the thermodynamics of microphase separation in diblock copolymer melts using a field theory approach along side coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. The effects of mismatch in the dipole moments of the monomers on the disorder-order transition as well as on the domain spacing of the lamellar morphology will be presented. Not only do the coarse-grained simulations confirm predictions of the field theory approach (valid for freely-rotating point dipoles) but also they provide insights into the effects of orientation dependent dipolar interactions. The effects of dipolar interactions on the segregation strength in lamellar morphology will also be discussed.