Morphologies of an Amphiphilic Diblock Copolymer of Poly (Ethylene Oxide)-b-Polystyrene and Its Blends with Poly (2,6-Dimethyl-1,4-Oxide)

Abstract

Systems containing block copolymers are of great interest due to the ability of copolymers to self-assemble into a variety of structured, ordered, or partially ordered morphologies. A fascinating morphology of two-dimensional arrays of hexagonal-like holes was observed for the first time in the diblock copolymer of poly (ethylene oxide)-b-polystyrene (PEO-b-PS) by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The blends of PEO-b-PS with poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) were obtained by solution blending, and the morphologies of PEO nano-dispersed particles in PPO/PS matrix were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and TEM. Using the film forming technique on water/air interface, the core-shell morphology with PEO as shells was obtained in PEO-b-PS/PPO blends. Thus, three different morphologies were obtained by controlling preparation conditions. Especially, PEO-b-PS self-organized into the hexagonal-like holes patterns was first found to our knowledge.