Ultra-Fast Vertical Ordering of Lamellar Block Copolymer Films on Unmodified Substrates

Singh, Maninderjeet; Wu, Wenjie; Basutkar, Monali N.; Strzalka, Joseph; Al-Enizi, Abdullah M.; Douglas, Jack F.; Karim, Alamgir

doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01782

Ultra-Fast Vertical Ordering of Lamellar Block Copolymer Films on Unmodified Substrates

Journal Article · Wed Jan 20 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Macromolecules

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01782· OSTI ID:1774155

Singh, Maninderjeet ^[1]; Wu, Wenjie ^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[4]; ^[5]; ^[1]

Univ. of Houston, TX (United States)
Univ. of Akron, OH (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
King Saud Univ., Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)

To utilize the full potential of block copolymer (BCP) thin films for use in technological devices ranging from ion conduction membranes, transistors to nanowire array antennas, rapid self- assembly of lamellar block copolymers (l-BCPs) with vertically oriented lamellar domains on a variety of unmodified substrates is needed. l-BCPs have an inherently larger interfacial area for transport compared to their cylindrical counterpart. Our observations demonstrate that the as-cast weakly ordered vertically oriented state of l-BCP films of polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) from directional evaporation of select solvents, act as “seed templates” for their ultra-fast evolution (~30 s) into well-ordered vertically oriented nanostructures, using a thermal gradient-based Cold Zone Annealing (CZA) technique. Furthermore, vertical lamellae are obtained on unmodified substrates, Quartz and Kapton, and the kinetics of l-BCP ordering is much faster by CZA as compared to the isotropic oven annealing. The rapid ordering kinetics of vertical l-BCPs is tested and found applicable to different molecular weights and film thicknesses ranging from 20 nm to 480 nm, which ultimately flip over to their equilibrium parallel morphology at upper limits of annealing times. This rapid ordering strategy for vertical orientation of l-BCPs using roll-to-roll compatible CZA would be highly relevant for fundamental studies of interfacial transport as well as for industrial applications from membranes to nanowires.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: King Saud University; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1774155

Journal Information:: Macromolecules, Journal Name: Macromolecules Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 54; ISSN 0024-9297

Publisher:: American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Ultra-Fast Vertical Ordering of Lamellar Block Copolymer Films on Unmodified Substrates

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