Tethered Diblock Copolymer Chains on Platelets Prepared by Semicrystalline ABC Triblock Copolymers in Toluene with Trace Amounts of Water

Abstract

Lamellar platelets of triblock copolymers grown in dilute toluene solution with trace amounts of water can be used as templates for tethered diblock copolymer chain preparation and analysis. Polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinylpyridine)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-P2VP-b-PEO) with two different block fractions were used as model templates to generate tethered P2VP-b-PS chains on the platelet basal surfaces. In toluene solution the aggregation states of PS-b-P2VP-b-PEO were sensitive to the water content in the solution. For toluene with trace amount of water, spherical micelles were formed in the early stage and large square platelets would gradually grow from these spherical micelles. The hydrogen bonding between water and EO units was responsible for the formation of micelles and subsequent square platelets in the solution. Tethered P2VP-b-PS chains on basal surface of PEO platelets could be regarded as diblock copolymer brushes and the density (σ: 0.086−0.36) and height (d: 3.5−14.3 nm) of these tethered chains could be easily modulated by changing the crystallization condition and/or the molecular weight of each block. The tethered P2VP-b-PS chains were responsive to different solvent vapor. The selectivity of tethered blocks to various solvents is responsible for the change of morphologies of the basal surface of the platelets.