Aggregation phenomena in telechelic star polymer solutions

Telechelic star polymers are macromolecules with functionalized, mutually attractive end groups. We employ computer simulations on a lattice to investigate the phase behavior of trifunctional telechelic stars as a function of the fraction λ of attractive terminal monomers. We find macrophase separation that disappears at some value 0.4<λ<0.5, at which point it is replaced by self-organization into interconnected micelles. We supplement the thermodynamics with a morphometric analysis that provides insight into the mesostructure of the resulting aggregates.