Excluded volume effect on the self-assembly of amphiphilic AB diblock copolymer in dilute solution

The self-assembly of amphiphilic AB diblock copolymer in solution with different molecular size was investigated by using the self-consistent field theory (SCFT). By continuously varying the solvent size and the polymer concentration, the phase diagram is constructed. The aggregate concentration of the amphiphilic AB diblock copolymer decreases in solution with larger solvent size. The phase will transit in solution with different solvent size due to the excluded volume interaction effect. This widely existing excluded volume effect is very useful for the separation of polymers and helpful for understanding the crowding effect in bio-molecules.