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

Journal Article · · Macromolecules

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.

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:
1767427
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1485805
Report Number(s):
BNL-221092-2021-JAAM; BNL-209683-2018-JAAM
Journal Information:
Macromolecules, Vol. 51, Issue 24; ISSN 0024-9297
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 24 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

A Kriging-Based Approach to Autonomous Experimentation with Applications to X-Ray Scattering journal August 2019
Nanoscale Block Copolymer Self‐Assembly and Microscale Polymer Film Dewetting: Progress in Understanding the Role of Interfacial Energies in the Formation of Hierarchical Nanostructures journal December 2019
Photothermally Directed Assembly of Block Copolymers journal December 2019
Advances in Kriging-Based Autonomous X-Ray Scattering Experiments journal January 2020