In Situ Study of ABC Triblock Terpolymer Self-Assembly under Solvent Vapor Annealing

Journal Article · Wed Feb 13 00:00:00 EST 2019 · Macromolecules

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.8b02273· OSTI ID:1504877

Lee, Sangho  ^[1]; Cheng, Li -Chen  ^[1]; Yager, Kevin G.  ^[2]; Mumtaz, Muhammad ^[3]; Aissou, Karim  ^[3]; Ross, Caroline A.  ^[1]

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1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
3. Univ. de Bordeaux, Pessac (France)

We investigate the morphological evolution of two linear ABC triblock terpolymers, poly(1,1-dimethylsilacyclobutane-block-styrene-block-methyl methacrylate) (PDMSB-b-PS-bb-PMMA or DSM) and poly(1,1-dimethylsilacyclobutane-block-styrene-block-lactide) (PDMSB-b-PS-b-PLA or DSL), in situ during solvent vapor annealing using grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering. The morphology, orientation, and period of the microdomains are characterized under a continuous solvent vapor flow of CHCl₃ as a function of swelling ratio and deswelling rate. The 90 nm thick films of DSM form in-plane core–shell cylinders, while DSL films of 150 nm thickness predominantly form out-of-plane core–shell cylinders within perforated lamellae oriented parallel to the substrate. As a result, a reversible order–order phase transformation between spheres and cylinders and a reorientation from in-plane to out-of-plane cylinders occur during the annealing process.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0012704
• OSTI ID: 1504877
• Report Number(s): BNL-211500-2019-JAAM
• Journal Information: Macromolecules, Vol. 52, Issue 4; ISSN 0024-9297
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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