Tunable Nanoscale Channels in Diblock Copolymer Films for Biomolecule Organization

Interference microscopy on thin diblock copolymer films

2014 At equilibrium thin films of symmetric diblock copolymers exhibit a morphology where the lamellar microdomains are oriented parallel to the external surfaces. Interference microscopy has been used to investigate this orientation which results in a quantization of the film thickness. Solution cast films of the symmetric polystyrene/polymethylmethacrylate P(S-b-MMA) diblock copolymers exhibi...

Solvent-induced novel morphologies in diblock copolymer blend thin films.

We report the morphology and phase behaviors of blend thin films containing two polystyrene-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) diblock copolymers with different blending compositions induced by a selective solvent for the PMMA block, which were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The neat asymmetric PS-b-PMMA diblock copolymers employed in this study, respectively coded as a...

Interfacial profiles of mismatched lamellae in thin diblock copolymer films

Stability and orientation of lamellae in diblock copolymer films.

The dynamics of microphase separation and the orientation of lamellae in diblock copolymers are investigated in terms of a mean-field model. The formation of lamellar structures and their stable states are explored and it is shown that lamellae are stable not only for the period of the structure corresponding to the minimum of the free energy. The range of wavelengths of stable lamellae is dete...

Nanoparticle-Induced Phase Transitions in Diblock-Copolymer Films

Incorporation of nanoparticles into self-assembled block copolymers has been explored as an efficient way for improving the mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, and optical properties of materials at the nanometer scale. Recent computer simulations predict that the cooperative self-organization of nanoparticles and block copolymers should yield a wide variety of structures with well-co...