SCFT algorithms for polymeric systems with axial symmetry, and applications to colloids, micelles, and nanocomposites

In the last few years, there has been an exerted effort to fabricate objects and materials with integrate detail on the nanometre scale, which involves sizes not much larger than that of an individual atom. This extreme miniaturization allows, for example, ever more powerful and compact electronic devices with the capacity for massive information storage. One new strategy for constructing ultrahigh-capacity storage devices involves imprinting patterns onto a silicon wafer (i.e., lithography) from thin films of structured block copolymers. Indeed, long-chain polymers molecules have become one of the important building-blocks in this emerging field of nanotechnology, and in order to use them effectively we must be able to accurately model their behaviour.This project aims to develop efficient and accurate computational techniques for predicting the behaviour of structured polymers in systems with axial symmetry (these are systems that remain unchanged when rotated about a particular axis). Our computational algorithms will then be used to study three distinct systems: nanocomposite materials, block-copolymer micelles and polymer-coated colloids. The nanocomposites have potential uses in the development of optical-wavelength photonic crystals, which some day may see the replacement of conventional electronics by much faster light-based devises. Among the possible applications of block-copolymer micelles (or vesicles) is in drug delivery, which requires providing a protective coating that disassembles once the drug arrives at its intended location within the human body. Our last application involves efforts to disperse small particles (colloids) in solution, such as the pigments in latex paint. The challenge here is to prevent the colloidal particles from sticking together, which can be accomplished by attaching polymer molecules to their surfaces.