Silica/diblock films with various mesostructures of large characteristic length scales were synthesized through evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA). The structure-directing agents used were amphiphilic polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) diblock copolymers of high molecular weights. The synthesis process began with a dilute homogeneous solution of a silica precursor and the d...

The morphology and magnetic properties of diblock copolymer templated ferrimagnetic cobalt oxide nanoparticles are reported. Ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) was used to synthesize a novel cobalt diblock copolymer, where cobalt is directly attached to the polymer chain. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was performed to determine molecular weight distribution. Transmission electr...

Surface-induced phase transition of asymmetric diblock copolymer in selective solvents is first theoretically investigated by using the real-space version of self-consistent field theory (SCFT). By varying the distance between two parallel hard surfaces (or the film thickness) W and the block copolymer concentration f(p), several morphologies are predicted and the phase diagram is constructed. ...

This article describes the synthesis and characterization of a novel 'schizophrenic' diblock copolymer [poly(2-succinyloxyethyl methacrylate)-b-poly[(N-4-vinylbenzyl),N,N-diethylamine)]; PSEMA-b-PVEA] via reversible addition of fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization technique. The chemical structures of all samples as representatives were characterized by means of Fourier transform ...

The effects of adding A–B diblock copolymer to a polymer blend (A/B) on phase-separation kinetics and morphology have been investigated in a fixed shallowquench condition (DT 5 1.5 °C) by in situ time-resolved light scattering and phasecontrast optical microscopy. A shear-quench technique was used in this study instead of a conventional temperature-quench method. Mixtures of nearly monodisperse...

Ordered diblock copolymer blends have recently become the subject of tremendous research interest since they can be used to elucidate the intramicrodomain segregation of blocks differing in length, as well as to identify the molecular and blend parameters yielding phase immiscibility. In this work, we explore the influence of molecular architecture on block copolymer blend miscibility by examin...

The solubilization of hydrocarbons by micelles formed of diblock and symmetric triblock copolymers in water are compared in the framework of a mean-field theory of solubilization. The block copolymers contain poly(ethylene oxide) as the hydrophilic block and poly(propylene oxide) as the hydrophobic block and are designated as EXPYEX or EWPZ (where E and P denote ethylene and propylene oxides an...

Nanocomposites composed of diblock copolymer/ferroelectric nanoparticles were formed by selectively constraining ferroelectric nanoparticles (NPs) within diblock copolymer nanodomains via judicious surface modification of ferroelectric NPs. Ferroelectric barium titanate (BaTiO3) NPs with different sizes that are permanently capped with polystyrene chains (i.e., PS-functionalized BaTiO3NPs) were...

Although block copolymer motifs have received considerable attention as supramolecular templates for inorganic nanoparticles, experimental observations of a nanostructured diblock copolymer containing inorganic nanoparticles-supported by theoretical trends predicted from a hybrid self-consistent field/density functional theory-confirm that nanoparticle size and selectivity can likewise stabiliz...

The self-assembly of triblock copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide-b-methyl methacrylate-b-styrene) (PEO-b-PMMA-b-PS), where PS is the major component and PMMA and PEO are minor components, provides a robust route to highly ordered, nanoporous arrays with cylindrical pores of 10-15 nm that show promise in block copolymer lithography. These ABC triblock copolymers were synthesized by controlled liv...