Frustrated Microparticle Morphologies of a Semicrystalline Triblock Terpolymer in 3D Soft Confinement.

Self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) in three-dimensional (3D) confinement of emulsion droplets has emerged as a versatile route for the formation of functional micro- and nanoparticles. While the self-assembly of amorphous coil-coil BCPs is fairly well documented, less is known about the behavior of crystalline-coil BCPs. Here, we demonstrate that confining a linear ABC triblock terpolymer with a crystallizable middle block in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions results in a range of microparticles with frustrated inner structure originating from the conflict between crystallization and curved interfaces. Polystyrene-