Thickness-Dependent Ordering Kinetics in Cylindrical Block Copolymer/Homopolymer Ternary Blends

Doerk, Gregory S.; Li, Ruipeng; Fukuto, Masafumi; Rodriguez, Alfredo; Yager, Kevin G.

doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01773

Thickness-Dependent Ordering Kinetics in Cylindrical Block Copolymer/Homopolymer Ternary Blends

Journal Article · Tue Dec 11 23:00:00 EST 2018 · Macromolecules

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01773· OSTI ID:1485805

^[1]; Li, Ruipeng ^[2]; Fukuto, Masafumi ^[2]; Rodriguez, Alfredo ^[3]; ^[1]

Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)
City Univ. (CUNY), NY (United States). City College, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

The slow kinetics of block copolymer self-assembly may hinder, or even prevent, the realization of expected equilibrium ordered morphologies. Here in this paper we investigate the self-assembly kinetics of cylinder-forming polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) and its corresponding ternary blends with low molecular weight PS and PMMA in thin films ranging from <1 to several cylinder layers in thickness. In situ grazing-incidence X-ray scattering coupled with ex situ electron microscopy reveals pathway-dependent ordering substantially altered by homopolymer blending. In particular, the neat (unblended) block copolymer (BCP) is kinetically frustrated in films more than ~1 cylinder layer thick and is unable to reach a state of ordered hexagonally packed cylinders during the annealing interval. On the other hand, while blends exhibit similar pattern coarsening behavior to neat BCPs for hexagonally ordered cylinders, reorientation transitions between vertical or horizontal cylinders are dramatically accelerated in blend thin films. We infer that more rapid early stage ordering observed in blends can be attributed in part to faster reorientation transitions.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704

OSTI ID:: 1485805

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1767427

Report Number(s):: BNL--209683-2018-JAAM

Journal Information:: Macromolecules, Journal Name: Macromolecules Journal Issue: 24 Vol. 51; ISSN 0024-9297

Publisher:: American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
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grazing incidence small angle scattering
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