Abstract
The phase behavior of the binary blends of polystyrene-b-poly(l-lactide) chiral block copolymer (BCP*) and polystyrene homopolymer (HS) is found to be strongly dependent on the molecular weight (M n ) of the HS. A helical phase is formed in the blends with low-M n HS due to an enhancement of helical steric hindrance. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry.