Diblock copolymers of polystyrene-b-poly(1,3-cyclohexadiene) exhibiting unique three-phase microdomain morphologies

Journal Article · Tue Mar 29 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Polymer Science. Part B, Polymer Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.24050· OSTI ID:1319226

Misichronis, Konstantinos ^[1]; Chen, Jihua ^[2]; Kahk, Jong K. ^[3]; Imel, Adam ^[4]; Dadmun, Mark ^[4]; Hong, Kunlun ^[2]; Hadjichristidis, Nikos ^[5]; Mays, Jimmy W. ^[4]; Avgeropoulos, Apostolos ^[6]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Univ. of Ioannina (Greece)
2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
3. Oak RidgeOak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
4. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
5. King Abdullah Univ. of Science and Technology, Thuwal (Saudi Arabia)
6. Univ. of Ioannina (Greece); King Abdullah Univ. of Science and Technology, Thuwal (Saudi Arabia)

Here, the synthesis and molecular characterization of a series of conformationally asymmetric polystyrene-block-poly(1,3-cyclohexadiene) (PS-b-PCHD) diblock copolymers (PCHD: ~90% 1,4 and ~10% 1,2), by sequential anionic copolymerization high vacuum techniques, is reported. A wide range of volume fractions (0.27 ≤ Φ_PS ≤ 0.91) was studied by transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering in order to explore in detail the microphase separation behavior of these flexible/semiflexible diblock copolymers. Unusual morphologies, consisting of PCHD core(PCHD-1,4)–shell(PCHD-1,2) cylinders in PS matrix and three-phase (PS, PCHD-1,4, PCHD-1,2) four-layer lamellae, were observed suggesting that the chain stiffness of the PCHD block and the strong dependence of the interaction parameter χ on the PCHD microstructures are important factors for the formation of this unusual microphase separation behavior in PS-b-PCHD diblock copolymers. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016, 54, 1564–1572

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1319226
• Journal Information: Journal of Polymer Science. Part B, Polymer Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Polymer Science. Part B, Polymer Physics Journal Issue: 16 Vol. 54; ISSN 0887-6266
• Publisher: Wiley
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
SAXS
TEM
anionic polymerization
diblock copolymers
differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)