Static and dynamic evanescent wave light scattering studies of diblock copolymers adsorbed at the air/water interface

Abstract

We report the results of static and dynamic evanescent wave light scattering studies of a monolayer of a diblock copolymer, polystyrene-b-polymethylmethacrylate (PS-b-PMMA) with weight averaged molecular weights (Mw) of 880 000:290 000 supported at the air/water interface. Our studies probe the interfacial structural and dynamic properties of the monolayer on a length scale which is a fraction of the wavelength of light. The static light scattering studies were carried out as a function of polymer surface coverage and temperature; we also report some preliminary data for the dependence of the static structure function on the relative molecular weights of the PS and PMMA blocks. The complementary dynamic light scattering studies were carried out only as a function of surface coverage. Our data suggest that, upon spreading in the air/water interface, PS-b-PMMA (880:290 K) copolymers form thin disklike aggregates containing about 240 molecules. These data are consistent with a model in which each such aggregate is a ‘‘furry disk’’ with a dense core consisting of a layer of collapsed PS blocks atop a thin layer of extended PMMA blocks on the water surface and a brushlike boundary of extended PMMA blocks. The data show that the furry disks diffuse freely when the surface coverage is small, but when the surface coverage is large, they are immobile. Our data also suggest that the furry disks can aggregate to form even larger ‘‘islands’’ of disks with an extension greater than 20 μm. The static structure function of the assembly of furry disks is well described, over a wide range of surface coverage, by the structure factor of a two-dimensional hard disk fluid modulated by a two-dimensional hard disk form factor.