Abstract
The exchange of copolymer chains between 1 vol % PS–PEP (poly(styrene-b-ethylene-alt-propylene)) diblock copolymer micelles in squalane (selective for PEP) is investigated using time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering (TR-SANS) as a function of added PEP homopolymer. The solvent squalane, C30H62, is substituted in part or completely with PEP homopolymers that are the same molecular weight as the corona blocks. Polymer solutions/mixtures (1 vol % PS–PEP, plus 2, 7, or 15 vol % PEP in squalane, and 1 vol % PS–PEP in PEP) were separately prepared using normal (h-PS) or deuterated equivalent (d-PS) PS–PEP diblock copolymers. The solvent was contrast matched to a 50/50 mixed h-/d-PS micelle core, so that the scattering intensity decays with the mixing of h- and d-PS–PEP chains undergoing exchange between micelles. The chain exchange rate can therefore be assessed quantitatively. As the concentration of added homopolymer in solution increases above the overlap concentration of PEP chains, the chain exchang...
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