{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T17:48:17Z","timestamp":1775152097011,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]],"date-time":"2026-04-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775001600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Polymers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Chain topology offers a chemistry-preserving route to tune block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly by modifying intrachain correlations and relaxation pathways without changing monomer interactions. Here, we perform a unit-matched comparison of four lamella-forming AB architectures reconstructed from an identical constitutive diblock unit (N0): a linear diblock (DB), a linear multiblock (MB), a comb-like architecture (CB), and a star-like architecture (SB). Using dynamical density functional theory (DDFT), we quantify topology-dependent bulk ordering thresholds and show that architectural reconfiguration systematically stabilizes the ordered phase, reducing the order\u2013disorder transition relative to DB (MB\/CB\/SB \u22480.793\/0.762\/0.752 of the diblock value), in semi-quantitative agreement with random phase approximation (RPA) spinodal trends. We also compare topology-dependent directed self-assembly in a common trench geometry under matched reduced quench depth \u0394(\u03c7N0)=\u03c7N0\u2212(\u03c7N0)ODT, thereby isolating kinetic differences at comparable thermodynamic distance from bulk ordering. A Fourier-based alignment order parameter \u03b1(t) reveals sigmoidal alignment kinetics over decades in time and is well captured by a logistic form in lnt, enabling compact descriptors (t50, t90, and a steepness parameter k) that separate alignment onset from late-stage defect annihilation, while selective sidewalls robustly template sidewall-parallel lamellae across all topologies, the late-stage kinetics remain strongly connectivity dependent and can exhibit long-tailed completion associated with slow late-stage defect annihilation. These results demonstrate a dual role of topology in DSA: lowering the segregation strength required for bulk ordering while reshaping defect-mediated alignment pathways under confinement.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/polym18070869","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T16:51:02Z","timestamp":1775148662000},"page":"869","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Topology-Induced Reduction in the Order\u2013Disorder Transition in AB Block Copolymer: A Unit-Matched Comparison of Diblock, Multiblock, Comb, and Star Architectures"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4610-4521","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"June","family":"Huh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1016\/j.progpolymsci.2015.10.006","article-title":"Directed self-assembly of block copolymers on chemical patterns: A platform for nanofabrication","volume":"54\u201355","author":"Ji","year":"2016","journal-title":"Prog. 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