Exploring the Self-Assembly Capabilities of ABA-Type SBS, SIS, and Their Analogous Hydrogenated Copolymers onto Different Nanostructures Using Atomic Force Microscopy.

Nikolaos Politakos,Galder Kortaberria

doi:10.3390/ma11091529

Nikolaos Politakos, Galder Kortaberria

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11091529

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Journal: Materials	Publication Date: Aug 24, 2018
Citations: 8	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of the Basque Country

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In this work, the self-assembled morphologies obtained for poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) (SBS) and poly(styrene-b-isoprene-b-styrene) (SIS) ABA-type copolymers were investigated before and after hydrogenation of the polydiene block, which led to poly(styrene-b-ethylene)/poly(ethylene-b-styrene) (SEES) and poly(styrene-b-ethylene)/poly(propylene-b-styrene) (SEPS) copolymers, respectively. The evaluation of different morphologies was carried out using atomic force microscopy (AFM), analyzing the effect of various parameters such as the solvent and polymer concentrations employed for film casting (toluene, cyclohexane, or tetrahydrofurane with concentrations of 1 and 3 wt%), together with that of the annealing treatment (thermal annealing at room temperature, and 60, 80, and 100 °C). The effect of these parameters in combination with the chemical nature of the polydiene block led to different morphologies with different topographic aspects affecting the roughness (Ra) of the film.

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As several new applications emerge in the field of materials science, especially at the nanoscale level, new nanomaterials with improved properties are needed
The evaluation of different morphologies was carried out using atomic force microscopy (AFM), analyzing the effect of various parameters such as the solvent and polymer concentrations employed for film casting, together with that of the annealing treatment
For SEES, a worm-like ordered morphology was observed only for samples annealed at 100 ◦ C

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Introduction

As several new applications emerge in the field of materials science, especially at the nanoscale level, new nanomaterials with improved properties are needed. Block copolymers are potentially suitable for this purpose due to their capability to self-assemble into ordered nanostructures. The development of new monomers and polymerization techniques can lead to various copolymers with interesting properties that can be controlled from their ordered nanostructures [1,2,3,4,5]. The formation of well-ordered morphologies is mainly governed by the Flory–Huggins interaction parameter χ and the polymerization degree N (different χN values leading to morphologies that can be predicted through phase diagrams), together with other parameters such as the volume fraction of blocks and interfacial interactions [9,10]. Changes in N or χ parameters (block structure or nature) in block copolymers can alter obtained morphologies leading to new phase diagrams [11,12]

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